


Hearts of Glass

by yOuArEdEd



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bullying, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) is so Pure, Lesbian Allura (Voltron), Lesbian Pidge | Katie Holt, Multi, Name-Calling, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pastel Lance (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Shiro (Voltron), Polyamory, Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Punk Keith (Voltron), Punk Shiro (Voltron), Short Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-02-28 14:06:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18757954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yOuArEdEd/pseuds/yOuArEdEd
Summary: Shiro and Keith are punks, don't wanna mess with 'em. Lance is a pastel boi, cute and loving. Y'all know what's gonna happen next <3





	1. Chapter 1

Lance took a deep breath before stepping through the front doors of his new school. School already started a month earlier, now being October, so he was coming in after everyone else. As soon as he walked in he felt all eyes on him. He knew it was a small town so everyone knew everybody. So, him being a new person who just moved in a few weeks earlier, he was going to be noticed fairly quickly. Not only that but he was a very light person. He wore light, pastel colors; he was a pastel boy. Today he was wearing a light blue sweater and white jeans with blue checkered Vans. He swallowed and walked into the main office, leaving behind the whispers and pointing fingers. 

Lance walked up to two people at the front desk. One was a lady, who looked nice, and the other was a man, who did not look as nice. "Excuse me?" The lady turned around and smiled.

"Ah! You must be the new student," she said. Lance nodded. She turned around to grab something. The other person stared him down. Lance gave a smile but the man's frown deepened so he looked away at the lady. She handed him a paper. "Here is your schedule. If you need any help finding the classes ask anyone. I'm sure they'll be happy to help." 

"Thank you. Have a nice day."

"You, too, hun." He smiled at the two people and left. He looked down at his schedule and headed off to find his first class, English. 

He walked around but couldn't find the class. He stopped in the middle of the hall and looked back at the paper. Where the heck was that stupid class. It was almost time for first period and most kids were already in their classes. He walked forward and bumped into someone. 

"Oh! I-I'm sorry. I didn't see you," Lance quickly apologized. He looked up and saw a friendly looking guy. He was taller than Lance and had dark brown hair and eyes. He wore a bandanna around his head and had the warmest smile. The teen stuck his hand out and spoke.

"Hi! You're the new kid, right? I'm Hunk. Need help finding a class," Hunk asked. Lance smiled back.

"Lance and yes. I do need help finding my class. This place is slightly confusing." Hunk took the schedule and smiled wider then gave it back.

"It looks like we have the some of the same classes together, including the first two periods. C'mon, let's go before the bell rings." The two headed to English, talking and laughing. Between English and history they became friends. When the bell rang for third period Hunk pointed Lance towards the direction to his next class- math- and went the opposite direction.

Lance tried his best to find the class but of course he got lost. This place wasn't even that big. Granted, it was larger than his other school but still not that big. He groaned and turned when he noticed he was in the wrong hall. He felt a tap on his arm and looked to his side and saw a short boy with large circle glasses. He had short, dirty blonde hair and if Lance looked close enough he almost looked like a she. Wait- he is a she. Oops. The girl smiled and adjusted her glasses.

"Name's Pidge. Lance, right? Heard about you from Hunk. You need help looking for a class," Pidge asked, more like stated as if she already knew. It was quite obvious Lance needed help finding his class, so he nodded.

"Yeah, that would be great." He handed his schedule to the short girl and she looked it over then handed it back to him.

"Looks like you're stuck with me for the next three periods."

"You make it seem like a bad thing," Lance laughed and began walking with Pidge. She smiled and shook her head.

"Only if you make it a bad thing." Lance hummed in response.

Lance found that Pidge was way too smart for her age. She actually skipped a year because of her intelligence. The two became quick friends, too. After math and science they headed to gym and were greeted by an overjoyed Hunk. He came over and gave Pidge a hug then turned to Lance asking for a hug which he gladly gave.

Lance didn't bring any clothes so the teacher told him to sit out. He watched Pidge and Hunk fail miserably at tennis. He would laugh at some of the attempts they made to hit the ball. After some time he grabbed his light purple and blue bag and pulled out his sketch book and drew for the remainder of class. He was so focused on his drawing he hadn't noticed the three pairs of eyes on him from across the gym.

A very sweaty Hunk and a tired looking Pidge came up to Lance after class angrily shouting at each other.

"Why do you have to be so slow," Pidge said.

"I'm trying my best. Why do you have to be so short?" Lance tried to hold back a laugh that caught the other two's attention.

"What," they shouted in unison. 

Lance looked at them. "You two were both great but you looked so ridiculous." It was silent for a few seconds before Pidge began giggling and they all burst out in laughter. "Okay, okay," Lance said between breaths, "You two should go change 'cause you smell like sweat." They left Lance as they got changed, making Lance awkwardly lean against a wall.

He was playing with the hem of his sweater when he heard someone walking up to him. He looked up and saw a tall man with long white hair. He was, to say the least, a gorgeous man. The man stopped in front of Lance and gave a dashing smile, though it looked kind of unnerving. He gave off a weird vibe and Lance subconsciously leaned further into the wall.

"Hello. My name is Lotor," his voice was smooth.

"My name's La-"

"I know who you are, Lance. You're the talk of the school," Lotor interrupted. "Would you like to sit with me and my friends during lunch? I'm a very well known person so being with me might make you friends rather quickly."

Lance looked away and shook his head. "I'm already going to be sitting with people. Thank you, Lotor, but I'm fine."

"I see," his voice dropped. "Well, that's fine. Just know I'll always have an open spot for you." Lotor perked up. "Bye-bye, Lance." With a little wave, he turned and walked down the hall and out of sight. Lance stared off in that direction til he heard his friends coming out of the changing rooms.

"Hey, guys," Lance cut in on their conversation. The other two cocked their heads. "Who's Lotor?"

"Don't," Pidge began. "Do not talk with him. He may seem like he's a good person but he's really not."

"Yeah, man, he's bad news," Hunk added. Lance nodded in understanding.

"I figured something was off."

"You met him already?"

"Yup. He wanted to know if I would sit with him and his friends for lunch but I told him I'm already sitting with people."

Pidge smiled. "Good job, Lance." They continued talking about whatever came to mind as they headed to the cafeteria. When they got there Lance looked over the entire room. There were plenty of kids who noticed him but quickly looked away. He locked eyes with Lotor for a few seconds before he was pulled away by Pidge to their table. When he sat down he noticed another girl sitting there. She was extremely tall, taller than Hunk. She had a soft expression, though, and she was really nice. Hunk introduced her as Shay and Lance could have sworn he saw a slight blush come on his face. 

He also saw another person who looked like a taller Pidge. His name was Matt and he was Pidge's older brother. He was also very smart and the two siblings were really close. Everyone got food and started talking. Lance was happy that on his first day he already made so many friends. He put down his half eaten sandwich. His mom made his favorite but he wasn't that hungry. He excused himself, threw out his food and left to the bathroom.

He walked in and walked up to the sinks. He closed his eyes and inhaled. At least he got through half a sandwich. He had washed his hands and was drying them when he heard the door open. He turned and saw Lotor. Lance smiled at him and went to walk past him but before he could touch the door, Lotor grab his upper arm and pulled him back. Lance let out a surprised squeak.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Lance," Lotor chuckled. Lance gave him a small glare before smiling.

"It's fine. Uh, what do you need?" Lotor stepped closer.

"Just wondering if you'd change your mind and sit with me. Just for a little." Lance shook his head and walked past Lotor. He put his hand on the door and turned.

"I already told you. Maybe some other time," he said. Lance opened the door and started walking back to the cafeteria but Lotor followed.

"Oh, come on. Please?" 

God, why is he so persistent, Lance thought. He turned on his heel to face the freakishly tall man. "No. I'm sitting with people already." He turned again but felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Lance. Why won't you come and sit with me?" Lotor put his other hand over his heart. Lance brushed his hand off and stepped closer to him.

"Because I said no." He stepped back and crossed his arms. "Why won't you leave me alone?"

"Because you don't need friends like those around you." Lance made a disgusted face.

"And what do you mean by that, huh? I rather like my new friends. If anything, I don't need a friend like you. Now, leave me alone." Lance turned to walk away but again Lotor grabbed his shoulder. "What the- let go!"

"Lotor!" Both boys turned to look at who yelled. Lance was taken aback by the sheer beauty of the girl who yelled. She was tall and had slightly darker skin than Lance's. She had light blue eyes and white, wavy hair that cascaded past her waist. Lance was positive if it was straightened it would fall to her knees. She had on black, high waisted shorts and a white, crop top under a leather jacket and black platforms. She also had a nose ring colored pink. She walked up to Lotor and Lance and pushed Lance to her side. "Leave him alone. He told you to let him go." Lotor clicked his tongue and walked off mumbling. The girl sighed and turned to Lance. "You okay?"

Lance stared at her. He said the first thing that came to his mind. "You look like a princess..." It was silent for a second before the girl started giggling. Lance blushed and covered his mouth when he realized what he said. She squealed and squishes his cheeks.

"Aren't you just the cutest!" She smiled at him, fan-girling over how cute he was.

"Ah- um- well, thanks?" She squealed and pulled him into a tight hug. "Um..." She let go, smiling brighter than ever. "Thank you for getting him away from me. I'm Lance."

"Oh! No problem! I'm Allura. Lotor's a pest. It seemed like you were handling him pretty well for a bit, though," she said. They walked back to the cafeteria with Allura asking him questions about himself. When they arrived some people looked up at them in shock.

"My friends are over there," Lance said, pointing to a table a few ways down while ignoring the looks from everyone. Allura gave a small pout.

"Alrighty. Enjoy the rest of today, Lance." She paused. "Could I give you another hug? You're just too cute!" Lance blushed a little again. 

"Uh, sure." She did a little clap thing and hugged him before running off. He walked to his table and sat down. He looked up to see everyone staring, wide-eyed at him. "What?"

"You just got hugged by Allura," Pidge stated, clearly surprised.

"Yeah? Was I not supposed to?"

Hunk slammed his hands on the table and everyone jumped. "Dude! That's amazing! Not only is she one of the prettiest girls- that every boy is pining after- but she's part of that 'bad kids' group. You just got hugged by her!"

Pidge nodded. "Yeah, man, she's really cool." 

"Oh. That's pretty cool, I guess," Lance said "Wait- 'bad kids' group? Really?"

"Well, yeah. We don't really have a name for them. They're just the 'bad kids,'" Matt jumped in. 

"Huh."

Shay leaned forward. "Yeah and Allura is in that group. They're pretty popular. There's Allura, Rolo, Nyma, Keith, and Shiro. Although, Rolo and Nyma aren't really close with the other three. In fact, I would say they aren't really in that group anymore but everyone just adds them because they're still bad kids, you know?" Lance nods.

"So, basically you just hugged a popular bad kid and everyone saw," Hunk says. Lance just shrugs.

"It doesn't really seem like that big of a deal to me but she did help with Lotor." Everyone groaned and began talking about how terrible Lotor was up to the bell. Hunk gave a general direction to where Spanish class was but, alas, poor Lance could not find his class. By this time the halls were empty and the bell was due to ring any second now. He groaned and walked down another hall. His face lit up when he saw two people at a locker.

He walked up behind them and tapped one of them on the shoulder. They both turned and Lance's breath caught in his throat. The two men in front of him were- well, they were hot. 

The one who he tapped his shoulder was about two inches taller than Lance. The teen had breath taking violet eyes set under thick black eye brows. His bangs framed his eyes so perfectly. He had a mullet but he somehow pulled it off. He wore black, ripped skinny jeans with a black v-neck t-shirt. He had on a black sweater with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows to show on black, finger-less gloves. He had multiple piercings on his ears. To finish his look he had on dark red Converse.

The other teen was way taller than Lance, at least one whole head. He had sharp, brown eyes that were lined with eye liner. He had a scar going across his face, cheek to cheek, across the bridge of his nose. He had equally thick brows with a piercing on his left one. He had an undercut with a tuft of white hair, the rest black. He also had skinny jeans on but a white t-shirt. He wore a leather jacket with multiple pockets. He didn't have gloves so Lance could see his right arm was a prosthetic. He had a gauges in his ears, half an inch wide. He wore black combat boots.

They were both pretty intimidating. But they were hot and Lance was having an internal crisis. Couldn't handle the heat.

The one he tapped on his shoulder turned his head. "What," he snapped. Lance flinched and took a step back. He heard the other one sigh and hit the back of his head. "Ow! What-?"

"Don't snap like that. You're scarin' the new kid." 

"I'm not," the one with the mullet said.

"You are, ya idiot."

"Well, who cares," he growled.

"Keith," he warned. Keith is the one with the mullet. Lance decided he should avoid him. As a matter of fact, he should probably avoid both of them. He watched as they bickered between each other and took another step back. He'll just leave them while they have their argument.

Keith groaned loudly and turned so suddenly Lance jumped. Keith stared at Lance for a second. Finally he spoke. "Sorry." Lance just blinked.

"What?"

"I'm not repeating myself."

Lance shook his head. "N-no! I heard. I just- you just surprised me. It's fine. It was my fault, really. You guys were talking and I interrupted you. You had every right to snap. I should be saying sorry." Lance saw confusion flash in the other two's eyes. He started playing with his sleeve and looked down at his schedule then at the ground. He wasn't about to ask these two to help. "Sorry, I-I have to go." He turned to walk away when his schedule was taken out of his hand. "Wha- hey!"

Shiro was holding his schedule while him and Keith look down at it. Keith patted the taller teen's shoulder. "See you later." He looked at Lance then left down the hall as the bell rang.

"Oh, crow," Lance whispered and turned back to the other male. He looked back at Lance with a raised brow. "What?"

"Crow?" Lance just cocked his head and little did he know that the other teen thought this was cute. "Why not crap or hell or somethin'?"

Lance shrugged. "I'm just not too big on swearing. I mean I'm not against it. I'm totally fine with others swearing but I dunno. But could I please have my schedule back?" This time Shiro shrugged but he started walking away with his paper. "Ah-"

"Follow me. We have the same class." Lance skipped to his side.

"Thank you," Lance said and got a hum in response.

"Name's Shiro."

"Lance but you probably already knew that, huh?" Shiro smiled. It was quiet for a few seconds until they heard clicking of heels. They were regular paced at first until the boys heard a gasp and they started speeding up. Lance turned just as he was jumped on and almost fell over. 

"Lance!" He recognized that voice as Allura. She squeezed him tight then pulled him arms width away and squealed. "You're still so cute!"

"Ah! It's the princess," he joked and giggled. He opened his eyes to see Allura with a big smile and Shiro with a red tint to his cheeks. Allura smushed his cheeks again. 

"Isn't he the cutest, Shiro? He's just the cutest." Lance felt his face heat up and again Allura squealed. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"Th-thank you?" She giggled and pulled back.

"So," she turned towards Shiro. "Where are you to off to."

"Spanish," they said in unison. 

"Mind if I walk with you?" She swung her arm over Shiro's shoulder. Lance shook his head. They started their walk again as Allura and Shiro talked with Allura asking Lance a question or two until they stopped at a door. Shiro gave Lance his schedule back and Allura left with a hug from Lance and a wave from Shiro.

Shiro knocked on the door three times, nice and loud, then placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Lance folded his paper again and put it in his back pocket when the door swung open to show an angry man.

"Late again, Shiro," he spat. Lance already did not like this teacher and shifted his weight. This caught the teacher's attention. "And you are?"

"L-Lance. I'm sorry I got lost and asked him to help me. It's my fault he's late." The teacher scoffed.

"Ah, right. I forgot I got a new student." The teacher stepped into the hall and closed the door. "Listen, I'm almost one hundred percent sure you weren't the one to make Shiro late. If anything he's the one to make you late. However, I would make sure that being tardy does not become a habit. You will have consequences." All Lance could do was nod. "Use your words."

"Y-yes, sir." Shiro stepped closer to Lance.

"Cut him some slack, Mr. D.. He just got here today. He has to get used to the layout of the school," Shiro said. Mr. D squinted at him.

"Get inside. Now," the teacher said and went back in the class. 

Lance looked up at Shiro and smiled. "Thank you," he whispered and walked in after Shiro. Lance was put in a seat in front of Shiro. The entire class he was cringing at the pronunciation of the Spanish words. He felt the Spanish teacher didn't really care for his job. Finally after what felt like forever the bell rang for his next class. He quickly gathered his things and left. 

He pulled out his schedule and saw he had art next. He knew where the art hall was, he past it three times in a row. He quickly found his class and awkwardly entered the room. He walked up to the teacher's desk and introduced himself. This teacher was nice and gave him a seat in the back. There were tables instead of desks and each one had four chairs around it.

He shuffled to his seat and put his head down and closed him eyes. Today was such a tiring day. It was nice but, still, tiring. As the bell rang he heard a chair in front of him move. He looked up and froze. Keith looked back at him and rolled his eyes as he sat down.

Lance looked down at his hands. He was slightly scared of the boy sitting across from him. He thought that Shiro would be more scary but he was surprisingly nice. He heard the door open and looked up to see Allura. She automatically saw him and sped walked up to him. They hugged then she sat down in the seat next to Lance holding his hands. "Hello, again, princess."

She giggled. "Hey, Lancey. Oh, it looks as if you met all of us. Hi, Keith." Keith just lifted his hand. She put her own hand to her mouth. "He's kind of a loner. Don't mind him."

"Oi, watch it." She just smiled in innocence.

Lance was glad Allura was in his art class. It would be very awkward for him if it was just him and Keith. During class, though, he found that Keith wasn't all that bad. He didn't talk as much as Lance and Allura did but still joined in on their conversation once in a while. 

Lance didn't know why Shiro, Allura, and Keith were so bad. They seemed friendly enough to him, with the exception of Keith. Shiro and Keith did seem more distant but Allura was just as bubbly and talkative as any other girl he has met. He couldn't be too sure seeing as he just met them today. 

During the last few minutes Allura asked for his phone. 

"For what," he asked tilting his head to the side. Allura grabbed his cheeks. He raised a brow. She smiled and turned his head to face Keith.

"Keith, Keith. You can't tell me he isn't one of the cutest things you've ever seen." And there goes the blush on Lance's face. He looked at Keith when Allura removed her hands. He watched Keith rub at the back of his neck. 

"I mean..." Lance felt a little hurt. Did Keith not think he was cute? Keith seemed like an honest and blunt guy so he would say he wasn't cute if he really wasn't. Keith watched Lance's face sadden a bit. "I can't." Lance felt another blush come to his cheeks. The other male looked at Allura. "He really is cute." 

"I know! I know!" Lance looked down at his hands again as his face began to burn. Allura quickly noticed his bright red face and clapped her hands together. "Oh, Keith, look! You made him blush. Look, how cute," Allura cooed. Lance brought his hands to his face in embarrassment. He heard Keith chuckle and that made his blush go to his ears. Allura hugged him and laughed. "Awe, Lancey, it's okay."

Lance laughed and shook his head but lowered his hands. He pulled out his phone and handed it to Allura after typing in his password. He watched as Allura typed something in then handed it to Keith and then he typed something. When he got his phone back he realized they typed in their numbers. He smiled, pocketing his phone as the bell rang. He waved bye to Keith and Allura and walked out the doors of the school to wait for his older sister to pick him up.

It would take another twenty minutes until she got there so Lance sat down on one of the benches. He heard the double doors open and looked up to see Pidge, Hunk, and Matt. He waved them over when Hunk noticed him.

"How was your first day of school," Hunk asked.

"It was great! You'll never guessed who I met," Lance said excitedly. He couldn't wait to see their faces when he tells them he got Allura's and Keith's number.

"Let me guess. Keith," Pidge said jokingly. Lance grinned.

"Yeah!" He watched as Matt and Hunk opened their mouths. He laughed. "And Shiro. And I talked with Allura again."

"And you're still alive," Hunk asked nervously.

"Ha ha. Yes, Hunk. I asked Shiro and Keith for help on finding my classes. Well, kinda. Shiro just grabbed my schedule and walked away with it. Me and him have Spanish together. Then I had art with Allura and Keith. Oh! And guess what?" 

Matt leaned in. "What?" Lance smirked and held up his phone.

"I got Keith's and Allura's numbers."

"What," the other three shouted. Lance laughed again.

"Yeah. They really aren't that bad. I don't know why you guys seem scared of them. I mean Keith is a little terrifying." Lance mumbled the last part. Pidge was about to say something when the doors flew open again. All of them looked up and saw the group they were talking about. When Allura saw Lance she tugged on Shiro's and Keith's sleeves then made her way over to him.

"Lancey!" She jumped to him. He stood up and gave her a hug. He pulled back and saw Shiro and Keith behind Allura. He smiled at them and stepped back to his other friends. Pidge, Matt, and Hunk were slightly speechless. Allura placed an arm on Lance's shoulders. "I see you've already made so many friends!" Lance's smile widened.

"Of course! They're really friendly and super nice. Ah! Before I forget." Lance handed his phone to Hunk and put his hands together. "Could I have your numbers? I mean if you want to. You don't have to."

"Sure," Hunk said typing on Lance's phone then handing it to Pidge. She typed in her number and gave it to Matt, who also typed in his number, then held out the phone. Lance went to take it back when the phone got snatched. He looked over and watched as Shiro typed on the phone.

Lance's smile brightened when he got his phone back and felt a small blush come to his cheeks. His first day and he made so many friends and got all their numbers aside from Shay. He held the phone to his chest and closed his eyes. "Thank you," he whispered. He felt arms around him and opened his eyes to Allura hugging him.

"Oh, my God! You are just so cute!" And there goes the blush causing the others to laugh. Hunk and the siblings left leaving Lance alone with the three unfairly attractive people. He sighed and sat down. Allura sat down on his left. He looked at her in confusion.

"Aren't you gonna go home?" Allura rolled her eyes, smiling, and crossed her legs.

"I'm not leaving you alone, silly," she said. "I'll wait until you get picked up."

"You don't have to."

"I know," she chirps. Lance felt someone sit next to him. He turned with a slight jump and saw Shiro settling himself next to him with Keith on his other side.

"You guys, too," Lance asks. Keith nods and Shiro smiles.

"Of course. We wouldn't want someone as cute as you all alone. Never know who could snatch you," Shiro says winking. Lance's face became a bright red and jumped when his ringtone went off. He cleared his throat and stood up, walking a few feet away then answered his phone.

"Hey, where are you?" He pauses. "Get to the point, Veronica." Another pause. "What," he raised his voice, catching the attention of his new friends. "I don't- aun no se el camino!" He rubs at his eye with the palm of his hand. "No puedes- ugh. Multa." Pause. "No. Dije que esta bien. Si. Adiós." He hangs up with a sigh. He walks back over and grabs his bag, putting his phone in the small pocket. "You guys can go home now. It's gonna be a while until my sister gets here. Like, another two hours?"

"Why don't you just walk home," Allura questions.

Shiro speaks up. "He just got here, Allura. He doesn't know the way yet." Lance looks over to him in surprise. "I know a little Spanish."

"Why don't we just take you home?" Lance looks over in slight disbelief. Did Keith just offer to take Lance home? He hadn't said a word this entire time and the first thing he said is that? Lance was not expecting that. 

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Allura smile. She claps her hands together and stands up, bringing Shiro with her. "Yes! That's perfect! However, Keith, he'll be going with you since Shiro's taking me in his car." She turns to Lance. "That okay with you?"

Lance shrugs. "I mean, I guess. If it's not a bother." He hears Keith click his tongue as he stands. He turns and grabs his bag then walks over to Lance grabbing the top of Lance's bag and starts pulling him. "Ah! Wait, wait!" He squeaks when Keith tugs him hard. Lance sees Allura and Shiro laughing and waving bye to the two. Lance gives a small wave back before they walk away. 

They get to the parking lot with Keith still pulling Lance. "Wait- ow! Keith, please, slow down!" Keith lets go and Lance huffs. "What the heck, Keith?" The taller teen glares at him. When he sees fear flicker in Lance's features he softens his face.

"Sorry," Keith says. "Here." He shoves a helmet in Lance's hands.

"Wait." Lance watches the other put a hand on a handle of a motorcycle. "We're taking that?" Keith grins.

"Yeah. Why? You scared of it?"

"What? N-no! I just wasn't expecting this." He pauses and his eyes flicker to Keith's. "Are you sure this is safe?" Keith crosses his arms and laughs.

"Yes, Lance. It's safe." He swings his leg over the seat and sits down. Lance puts on the helmet and sits behind Keith, grabbing the back of his sweater. "Put your arms around my waist. You'll fall off if you don't."

"I think I'm good." 

"Lance," Keith hisses. Lance jumps at his tone and hesitantly wraps his arms around Keith's waist. "Okay, now where's your house." Lance tells him and he pulls out of the parking space. Lance tightens his grip as the motorcycle speeds up. Keith feels this and smiles.

They get to his house in eight minutes. When Keith pulls in front of his house Lance doesn't move. Keith turns slightly. "Lance? You, uh, you good?" Lance shakily removes his hands then the helmet and shoves it into Keith's chest. "Lance-?"

"Don't," Lance breaths, "don't d-do that again." Keith stares at him then starts laughing. Lance looked up shocked. Keith looks at the smaller teen and his laughter dies down.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't help it. You really were scared." Lance opens his mouth then closes it then opens it again.

"N-no! Maybe? Just a little bit. But only because you drive like a maniac," Lance pouts. Keith crosses his arms.

"Alright, off," Keith says, voice going back to sounding hard and cold. Lance stumbles off the seat, mumbling an apology. As soon as Lance is off Keith starts the motorcycle and drives off.

Lance watches him leave with a worried look. Had he said something wrong? He didn't even get to say thank you. Maybe Keith doesn't like him anymore. Maybe he never did like him. Lance, with these thoughts filling his mind, heads inside his house.

Meanwhile, Keith was cursing to himself. Lance was too cute and he didn't know how to react to his pouting, his cute pouting. He thought leaving would be best but he saw Lance's hurt expression. He decided he would text him later and say sorry.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Swearing  
> -Abuse  
> -Name-calling

Lance sat in the middle of his bed at 12:16 a.m. in light blue pajama pants and a blanket wrapped around his bare upper body. He smiled down at his phone. Keith had texted him an hour ago saying he was sorry for being rude earlier. He said it was fine and that was it. He wished he could have texted more but he didn't want to seem annoying. His smile quickly faded when he started hearing yelling.

Every night for the past week his step-father would start an argument with his mother and Lance never got enough sleep from the constant yelling at ungodly hours of the night. Most of the time it was over dumb stuff. The other night she didn't buy the correct beer or something and he got mad. He called her names Lance would never want to repeat and said how he does all the work so she should get something as simple as beer right for him. Tonight it seems he's drunk and accusing her of cheating.

"You whore!" Lance heard what had to be a slap then crying.

"I-I would nev-never cheat on you," his mother cried. Lance couldn't take it anymore. How could this man treat his mom like this? He threw off his blanket and walked out of his room. He walked right into the kitchen where he saw his mom on the ground holding her left cheek and his step-father hovering over her. He ran up to him and shoved him away.

"Stay away from her," Lance yelled and knelt down next to his mom. She shook her head.

"Go back to bed," she said, more like whispered. "This doesn't concern you." This time Lance shook his head.

"No!" He turned to the other man and stood. "You don't deserve this!" He stepped closer to the towering male. He craned his neck when he stood right in front of him then pointed his finger up at his face. "You have no right to accuse mi mama of cheating! She didn't do anything! She's always home cleaning and making food for your lazy self! How dare you say such awful things to her! She does everything here! If anything you would be the cheater!"

His step- no. Lance couldn't even call him a father of any sort.  _Tyler_  looked about ready to kill. This scared Lance, a smaller and more fragile teen. The older man grabbed Lance's wrist, making Lance yelp. His grip was hard, hard enough to bruise, which it did. "Who do you think you're talking to? Huh? You have no right to talk to me like that! Someone like you shouldn't even talk to anyone," he screamed, spitting everywhere. His mom had stood up and grabbed Tyler's wrist.

"Enough! Enough, Tyler! Please! He's just a kid," she cried again. The man tightened his hand before finally letting go. He shoved both of them and left the house. Lance cradled his wrist. His mom turned and gave him a tight hug. He felt her tears against his skin. She kept repeating how sorry she was. All he did was stare at the door and told her it wasn't her fault. 

After a bit she calmed down and making sure Lance was okay, headed to bed. Lance looked down at his arm. There was already a bruise forming. Looks like he'll be wearing long sleeves for a while. He walked into his bedroom and looked over at his younger brother. Lance was grateful he was a heavy sleeper. He laid on his back on his bed. Veronica wasn't here. She was sleeping over her friend's house. She's in college (yes, she still lives at home) and sometimes stays with one of her friend's and work together on something.

Usually she would be the one to break up the fight. She would do it in a more passive way and wouldn't get injured. Also, Tyler wouldn't be drunk. He sighed and looked at his phone. No new notifications. He stared at the ceiling.  _'Someone like you shouldn't even talk to anyone.'_  Lance closed his eyes.  _'Someone like you.'_  He put his hands over his face.

Lance came out as bi to his family a month ago. Him and Tyler were never friendly towards each other but after coming out Tyler became less nice to him. He knew when Tyler said someone like you he meant someone who is bi like you. But what if he meant Lance as a person? Like, Lance shouldn't talk to anyone. Not "bi Lance" but Lance. He sighed again and rolled to his side and tried to get some sleep.

 

\--------

 

When Lance woke up his step-father was still gone and his mom was leaving with his little brother. She drops him off at daycare every morning and goes to do work. Lance told Tyler she stays home but if he told him his mom works he would be mad. Why? He doesn't know but Lance's mom told him not to tell Tyler. Like Lance ever talks to that man. He waved bye to the two and got ready for school.

He wore light blue skinny jeans with tears at the knees and a white long sleeved shirt. It was a little big on him and his shoulders always showed. He didn't care though. He thought it cute and if it covered the bruise, he'd be fine with it. He threw on his white converse and grabbed his phone. He noticed he got a text. He opened it to see he got a text from Allura.

**Princess:  Hey Lancey need another ride**

**Lance:  Yeah, how'd you know?**

**Princess:  Wait really**

**Lance:  Yeah my sister isn't here and my mom just left**

**Princess:  Okay well I could help**

**Lance:  Really?**

**Princess:  Yup**

**Lance:  Thank you!! :3**

**Princess:  Awee so cuuute**

**Lance:  Stooooop**

**Princess:  ha ha never! See you later**

**Lance:  Okayy**

Lance smiled and saw he had another text. This time it was from Shiro.

**Shiro:  heard u need a ride**

**Lance:  yeah, I really need to learn the route to school so I can walk there XD**

**Shiro:  maybe**

**Shiro:  for now i could take you seeing how Allura asked if i could lol**

**Lance:  oh yeah I guess if it's okay with you**

**Shiro:  its no prob**

Lance thanked him and told him his address. Shiro said he'll be there in five minutes. He said he lived pretty close by. So, Lance brushed his teeth and hair and only waited another minute before he heard an engine in front of his house. He stood quickly and raced to the window. 

A motorcycle. Of course it had to be a motorcycle. Lance grabbed his bag, putting his phone, charger, headphones, and keys in it, and walked outside. He slowly approached Shiro, who was standing and smiling. His bike was bigger than Keith's.

"What's up with you guys and motorcycles," Lance asked. Shiro grinned.

"We like them." Shiro gave Lance a helmet and sat down, putting his own helmet back on. Lance sat behind him.

"Please tell me you drive safely." Shiro laughed and started moving the motorcycle.

"Of course." Lance wrapped his arms around the other teen tightly. Shiro was just as crazy as Keith. When they arrived at school many of the students stared at Lance. Shiro parked his motorcycle and took his helmet off. He got off and waited for Lance to remove his arms but poor Lance was  _shook_  again with how these people drove. When he didn't he grabbed both his wrist but Lance yelped and pulled his arms back. Surprised, Shiro let go and turned to look at the smaller teen behind him. 

Lance stared down as Shiro got off.  _Why did I have to react like that? He didn't even touch the bruise that hard._  Lance took the helmet off and handed it to Shiro. "Sorry but you're just as bad as Keith," he joked. Shiro smiled and placed his helmets down. 

"Yeah, sorry." He paused. "You gonna get off now?" Lance tried to get off the thing. Too bad for him, the motorcycle was a bit bulkier than Keith's, so his foot got caught. He fell to the side but before he could hit the ground Shiro grabbed his upper arm. Lance stood straight and looked down. He felt his cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

"S-sorry." Shiro let go of his arm and ruffled Lance's hair.

"Nah, you good. There's nothing to be sorry about." They walked side-by-side to the doors of the school. Lance saw Pidge and Hunk waiting there. He thanked Shiro and ran ahead to greet his other two friends.

"Hellooo!" Lance jumped into Hunk's arms. Hunk hugged tightly, lifting Lance into the air. They both laughed and Hunk set Lance down. Lance turned to Pidge and gave her a hug. The three went into the building and walked to Lance's locker. As Lance was talking he heard his name from down the hall. He looked up to see Allura bouncing towards him.

"Allura!" He ran up to her and they hugged, her hair falling around the smaller male. They pulled back giggling. Allura pointed to his exposed shoulder as Keith and Shiro walked up behind her.

"You should cover that before you turn all the girls on," she joked. Lance fixed the shirt.

"Don't forget the guys," he said with a smirk and a wink. Hunk came in his line of sight.

"Did you just come out as gay?" Lance blinked and smiled sheepishly.

"W-well, I'm bi... I'm sorry. I just sorta said that." Lance looked down, playing with his left sleeve. He felt like crying. He just had to make that joke. He hadn't meant to come out to them so soon. He didn't want to lose his new friends over this. At his old school nobody was really accepting. He  _really_ felt like crying. "Please, don't be mad," he said quietly. He already started tearing up. Suddenly, he felt one large pair of arms and another smaller pair around him. 

Lance looked and saw Hunk and Pidge hugging him. "Aw! Lance, we aren't mad! We could never be mad at you," Hunk wailed. Pidge let go and grabbed his face so he looked at her.

"Yeah, man. I mean, if it makes you feel better to know this, I'm lesbian," she says and Hunk lets go.

"I'm straight but I'm totally accepting, buddy."

Lance was hugged again by Allura. "I'm lesbian, too."

"And me and Keith are gay, so," Shiro spoke up. He walked up to Lance and ruffled his hair as Keith nodded and pat his shoulder. 

"We're all accepting, Lance," Keith added.

Lance felt so happy. Happy wasn't even the right word to describe it. He felt the tears build up and fall, shocking everyone. They all dove to him, engulfing him in a big group hug. Even Shiro and Keith (Keith looked a little awkward). He laughed, tears still falling, and hugged back as best he could. After a minute they pulled away. Lance wiped away the remaining tears and smiled.

"Thanks, guys." 

They all separated with Allura giving a hug and Shiro ruffling Lance's hair for the millionth time. Hunk and Lance waved bye and headed to their class. As soon as they were out of ear shot of the others, Hunk was freaking out how he touched the "the bad kids." Lance just rolled his eyes but still smiled. 

For the first four periods Lance could feel his lack of sleep taking its toll. By the fifth period bell he could barely keep his eyes open. Pidge looked at him in concern.

"You look like a zombie," Pidge snorts. Lance huffs and rubs at his eye.

"I feel like a zombie."

"Well, we have a free period now so you could sleep."

"Wait. We have a free period," Lance asked.

"Well, it's more of a study hall but basically a free period." Lance nods. "But, yeah, you could sleep. We should go to the library." Lance nods again in agreement and head off to the library where they meet up with Hunk.

The library was surprisingly big but there was no one else in there besides their group and the librarian. Lance is a low-key book worm so when he saw the many books his face lit up.

"Holy crow!" He bounced on his heels gaining the attention of his two friends. "There are so many books!" Pidge snorts.

"Calm down, dude. You act like you haven't seen book before." Hunk chuckled.

Lance rolls his eyes but smiles. "I'm sorry. I just love books and there's lots of books here that I haven't read." He skips to the closest shelf and pulls out a random book. Holding it up, he turns with a smile. "Like this one!" 

There was a small laugh behind him that made Lance jumped. He turns and sees a man with the most glorious mustache he has ever seen. The man twists his orange 'stache and gives a bright smile.

"Ah, yes, my boy. That-" he points to the book Lance is holding, "-is a splendid book. I remember reading that when I was a young lad. I was so caught up in the action I finished it in a day!" The man laughs and holds out his hand. "My name is Coran- your librarian-  and I am so happy to see someone who is so happy about books. Not many people appreciate the wonderful works here. I thank you so much."

Lance giggles and shakes his hand. "I'm Lance!" The two talk for another minute before Lance gets pulled away by Pidge.

"That man can talk forever," she said. Lance shrugged but walked with her to the table in the back. 

Lance sunk into the comfortable chair and rest his head against the table. He sighs and closes his eyes to drift off to sleep. He gets interrupted but a pat on his shoulder. He looks up at Hunk who was pointing to the door. Allura, Shiro, and Keith just walked through looking as hot as ever. Pidge follows the boys' gaze and stiffened slightly.

She hid her face behind her laptop she pulled out. Lance noticed this and smiled. "Hey, Pidge," he says. She looks at him with a brow raised. "Do you, by any chance, have a crush on someone." Pidge's face reddened slightly. "Maybe- just maybe- Allura?" Pidge rolled her yes closed and lightly punched his arm.

"Sh- shut up. No... Maybe..." She opened her eyes as Lance placed his head in his hands. She sighed in defeat. "Yes, okay?" Hunk gasped. Pidge glared at him. "Why do you sound so surprised? I told you already."

Hunk shrugs and says, "I gotta play the part seeing how Lance didn't."

"Oh, my God," Pidge chuckles.

Lance smiles at the two and yawns. He knows he won't be able to sleep right now so he gets up to look for a book. He wanders towards the back and pulls out one of the thicker books. He opens the inside cover to read the summary. 

"Hey, Lance." Lance jumps and fumbles with the book until he gets a good grip on it. He clutches it close to his chest and slowly turns. He sees Shiro with an amused look on his face. Lance gives a half-hearted glare. "You okay there?"

"That wasn't  _funny_ , Shiro," Lance whisper-yells. "You don't just sneak up on people like that! You gave me a heart attack! Don't do that-!"  _'Someone like you shouldn't even talk to anyone.'_  Tyler's words echoed in his mind. Lance averts his gaze from Shiro. He starts playing with the book, opening then closing it, flipping the pages. "I'm sorry," he mumbles. The other male crosses his arms.

"For what?  _I_  scared  _you_." Lance looks up for a second.

"I- I kinda just snapped at you. I shouldn't have done that." Shiro's smile softens.

"Lance, you're fine."  Lance smiles, putting the book back.

"So, where's the others?"

"The others are- oh. I don't know," Shiro says with a chuckle. "They're here."

Lance nods and turns around. "You should probably go find them."

"Probably." Shiro shrugs and walks with Lance. "What about your other friends?" Lance smiles. He said "other friends" meaning Shiro thinks they're friends. That's good, very good.

Lance pulls out another book from a lower shelf. "They're at one of the tables over there." He points in the direction where they are and flips the book over to read the summary. He smiles and holds the book out to Shiro. "Here. You should read this." Shiro takes it hesitantly. "Relax, it won't bite."

"Why should I read this?"

"Because it's about a man who got into a motorcycle accident," Lance says, grinning. Shiro clicks his tongue and hits the book gently on Lance's head.

"Smartass." Lance giggles and takes back the booking, putting it in its rightful place. He skips down the isle a bit and stops, looking up.

Shiro steps up to him. Lance turns to look at him with crossed arms and a small pout. "Could- could you- um," Lance looks up at the books and back to Shiro. He clears his throat with a slightly red face. "Could you get that book for me?" He points to a shelf too high for him to reach. "Please?"

Shiro holds back from smiling too hard. "What one," he asks while moving to the shelves. Lance points.

"That one- no, over- the other way- yeah!" Shiro hands the book to Lance. "Thank you!" He says the you in a sing-song way and reads the back. He smiles and walks away but Shiro follows behind. "You don't have to follow me. I'm just gonna be reading." The other teen shrugs.

"I want to."

Lance looks at him with caution but gives a sly smile. "Uh huh. Do you follow me everywhere?" He chuckles, shaking his head.

"Yes." Lance stops and whips his head up at him. Shiro laughs. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"You said that so seriously." Shiro shrugs again.

Lance leads them to a wall and he sits down, leaning against it. He opens the book as Shiro sits down beside him, pulling out his phone.

Lance takes a glance at Shiro. How was this guy so attractive? His face is so symmetrical and handsome. He has a stern but friendly face. Lance quickly went back to reading with a red face when Shiro shifted.

The book Lance was reading was quite enjoyable but Lance soon began to nod of to sleep. His head tilted to the side as his eyelids closed and it hit against Shiro's arm. Lance jolted up and looked sheepishly at the other teen. 

"Ah, sorry. Sorry..." He yawned, rubbing his eye. He stood up, stumbling a bit, then stretched. "'M gon' check on Pidge and Hunk," he said sleepily. Shiro stood up and walked with Lance until they got to the table. 

Lance watched Allura, Pidge, and even Hunk talking with a smile. He then saw Keith sitting at the end of the table looking slightly uncomfortable. Lance nudged Shiro and pointed to Keith.

"I think maybe you should go to him," he says with a chuckle. Shiro sighs out a light laugh and walks up to him. Lance smiles and turns back around to return the book. He walks back over to the shelf and huffs. How was he gonna get the book up on that stupid shelf. "Stupid height."

Lance attempts to put the book back by standing on his toes. When that doesn't work he reluctantly climbs on the shelf. He lifts the book to its spot but his foot slips which makes him grab onto something, in which case it's the books. Lance falls on his butt with a yell as a few books fall on and around him.

The others heard the noise and quickly get up. They find Lance on the ground with the books and rush to him. Hunk is first by his side asking what happened and if he's alright. Lance assures everyone that he's fine and tells them what happened. They all laugh and pick up the books replacing them on the shelf. The rest of the time was spent at the table. Lance was slightly upset he didn't get to sleep like Pidge suggested but was happy the two groups were enjoying being together. Especially how Pidge and Allura seemed to be closer than the others.

The bell rang for lunch and the two groups didn't separate until they got to the cafeteria. Pidge, Lance, and Hunk waved bye to Allura, Shiro, and Keith. Lance sighed in content and sat down with his friends. Although he was tired, today was pretty good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! It's gonna be a wild ride. 'Til next time! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Swearing  
> -Abuse  
> -Violence  
> -Coma  
> -Injury

It had been three days since his step-father left mad and drunk. Lance was happy. He didn't have to hear the yelling and didn't have to feel like trash around Tyler, not to mention the hand-shaped bruise was fading. Yesterday Lance brought Hunk and Pidge over his house. His mom loved the two and had them stay for dinner. He felt the three of them got closer and he was happy.

He was sitting in Spanish class while him and Shiro passed notes. He was snickering at one of the notes when he heard an all too familiar rumble of an engine. He snapped his head up and looked outside. That was no doubt Tyler's run down truck. When he saw the man step out of his truck, Lance became anxious. Why was he here? There's no reason for him to even be anywhere near him.

"Lance!" Lance jumps when Mr. D snapped at him. He guesses he stared out the window too long. "Pay attention! What's more important: the lesson or outside?"

"Outside," he mumbles but instantly regrets it when the teacher stomps right up to him, leaning forward with his hand on Lance's desk.

" _What?_ "

"I-I mean the lesson! The lesson i-is more important. I'm sorry..." There was silent laughter around him. Mr. D shot the class a look before turning back to Lance.

"That's right. So why were you looking out the window? Do you need me to change your seat, McClain?" Lance shook his head no. "Then don't tempt me." The class phone began to ring so the teacher stood straight and walked away to answer it.

Shiro leaned forward in his seat. "You okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm good." Lance waved him off while he tries to listen to the teacher speaking in the phone. Suddenly, he turns to Lance and crooks his finger, the universal sign of 'come here'. Lance flashes a small smile to Shiro before heading to Mr. D.

"Office, now." 

Lance nodded and walked out of the class. Walking down the hall, he thought of all the things that were going to be said. It had to be about his family or else Tyler wouldn't be here. What could possibly be so bad that  _Tyler_  had his precious time taken away to stop be at Lance's school?

When he walked in the office his step-father gave him no time to prepare for what he said. He just dropped it like a bomb and Lance felt his world crumble around him.

"Your mother and brother are in the hospital due to a car crash. Your brother's badly injured and your mother is in a coma. Veronica is already there."

Lance couldn't breath for a second. He was shocked and clearly the lady at the desk was, too, on how blunt Lance's step-father was. A car crash? His brother, his baby brother was badly injured? His mom was in a coma? He felt his breath pick up. "Wh-what...?" His voice was just above a whisper.

"Get your stuff. We're leaving for the hospital. Got it?" Lance could only nod before going back to class.

He knocked quietly on the door. When the door swung open Lance quickly excused himself. "I'm being dismissed," he whispered to his teacher. He walked in quietly and grabbed his things from his desk and shoving it into his bag. As he was zipping it up, Shiro gently touched his arm.

"Lance? You alright?" He sounded genuinely concerned and Lance looked slowly at him. He mouthed the word 'yeah' not being able to actually speak. He could tell he was shaking slightly and he knew Shiro could feel it. Without another glance, he left the classroom. 

Lance walked down the hall as slow as he possibly could before stopping. He was shaking and holding back tears. His mama was in a coma. The only thing he could hear was blood rushing in his ear. His breathing picked up again as he closed his eyes. He jumped and let out a cry when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around sharply to see Shiro looking worried. Lance felt tears fall down his face.

When Shiro saw this he quickly wrapped Lance up in a warm hug. Lance hiccuped then began crying. He lifted his hands up to his face and cried into them. Shiro held on tighter while petting his hair. He shushed him quietly, urging him to calm down. When Lance did calm down, Shiro asked him what's wrong.

"M-mi mama is... she-she's in-" he hiccups, "-Shiro, she's in a coma!" He started crying again.

"Hey, hey. It- it'll be okay. You're okay. Shhh..." Lance sniffed then returned the hug, thanking him quietly. Finally they pulled away and Lance wiped the tears away.

"I have to go now. I can't keep him waiting."

"Him," Shiro asks. Lance played with the hem of his soft green sweater.

"Tyler. My step-dad," he replied softly. "I gotta go." He turns to walk.

"Want me to come with? Well, to drop you off at the office so you're not, y'know, alone?" Lance smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'd like that." They continued on down the halls in a comfortable silence. When they reached the office Lance turned around to face Shiro. "Thanks." Lance hesitated before continuing. "Could- could I have another... hug?" 

Without saying anything Shiro pulled the smaller male into a hug, the other wrapping his arms around. Lance tightens his grip before pulling away with a smile and leaving into the office. 

 

\--------------

 

The ride there was awkward and quiet. Lance was rather happy Tyler didn't speak to him. 

When they arrived Lance immediately ran to Veronica with tears in his eyes. They embraced each other while Tyler talked with a nurse. Veronica told Lance that his mom got called into the daycare because Marco became sick. She picked him up and was heading home when a car smashed into the side of their car, both vehicles tumbling over. Luckily, their little brother has just cuts and a broken arm. 

Tyler came out and told them they could see Marco. Lance hurried ahead while Veronica followed and Tyler stayed back. Of course he would. That man could care less about them. 

Lance entered the room and was greeted by Marco's smiling face, not knowing his mama wasn't awake. Lance ran to his side and hugged him. Lance and Veronica sat with their little brother for an hour before Veronica left to ask about their mom. Lance was in the middle of a story when she came back.

"They said you can see her. I'll stay with Marco until you come back." Lance stood up. "Take as much time as you need." He gave Veronica a weak smile and left to see his mama.

Lance held his breath, slowly opening the door to his mama's room. He was brought to tears again when he saw the seemingly lifeless body laying on the hospital bed, wires and tubes connected to her body. He walked to her with tears rolling down his face. Gently, as if he'd break her more, he took her hand in his and sat down.

"Mama..." He brought her hand up and put it against his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. "Wake up. Please, mama." He continued to cry silently. How could this happen? Veronica came in after about five minutes.

"Lance, listen, okay?" He looked up at her. "Marco is staying here for another night. I... I have to go. We both know that Marco won't be able to stay with Tyler so I'll call tia and see if she can take him for now. Lance, you'll have to stay with Tyler." Lance stiffened slightly. "You still need to go to school. I won't always be there, you know that. Most of the time I won't be there, really. Just be careful. Okay?"

"Okay."

She nods and hands him his bag and phone. "You left this in Marco's room. He's asleep right now so I suggest not going back in that room unless you want a crying three year old." She laughs softly. "Text me when you get home." Veronica gives Lance a hug. "Bye."

He waves bye as she leaves. He sighs and closes his eyes, still holding his mom's hand. Almost fifteen minutes pass when the door opens. Lance looks up, and upon seeing Tyler, glares.

"What do you want," Lance snaps. His step-father crosses his arms.

"Do  _not_ talk to me like that. We're going home. Let's go." Lance flinches at his tone but doesn't make any attempt to move.

"What? No! I'm not leaving! I'm staying!" Tyler goes to grab his arm but Lance slaps his hand away. "I said no!"

Tyler snapped and brought his hand back before swinging down on Lance's cheek. Shocked, Lance held the side of his face, looking down. He felt tears build up as Tyler grabbed his upper arm and pulling him away. Lance struggled against his grip as they reached the door.

"No! I don't want to leave! Stop! Dejame ir! Detener!" His yelling caught the attention of nearby staff and they quickly rushed to the two. When Tyler saw the nurses and doctors he let go and bent down to face Lance.

"You want to stay? Fine. But I'm leaving. So find your own way back home." Tyler turned and stomped away. When one of the nurses turned to ask if he was okay, he heard his name.

"Lance!" He whipped his head around to see Allura, Shiro, and Keith running towards him. He felt his tears fall down as he ran to meet them. He crashed into Allura and snuggles into her embrace. "Are you okay? Lance, who was- Lance?" She stopped talking when she felt his shoulders shaking and held him tighter, looking at the other two.

Lance pulled away, wiping his tears, others replacing them. "I... I'm fine. Just- I don't know." He sniffed. "Its my- my mama. She's hurt, badly, and- and- well- y'know..." Allura nods and gives him a quick hug.

"Hey, it's fine-."

"No! It's not! It won't be! I-!" He held back a sob and curled in on himself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." 

Keith stepped up and wrapped his arms around Lance gently. "There's no need for you to be sorry. You've done nothing wrong. You're just stressed. Don't be sorry." He squeezed the small boy against him. "Why don't we visit your mom, hm? Is that alright?" Lance nods and Keith lets go so he can lead them.

Lance brings them to his mom's room and sits down on the chair again and swivels it to face his friends. He gave them a confused look when he saw their semi-shocked faces. Shiro walked up to him and gently caressed his cheek with his thumb. Lance flinched when it stung and brought his hand up to touch it himself. It hurt a little when he touched his cheek. Tyler left a hand mark when he slapped him and only now did Lance feel it.

"Lance, who did that to you," Shiro questioned. Lance shook his head. "Was it that man we saw? The one holding onto you?" 

Lance just shrugged. He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't really want them to know about his step-father except that that was all he was: a step-father. Nothing more, nothing less. There was no need for these three to know anything about Tyler. There was no need for them to get involved. Then a thought came to Lance's mind. Why were they here? Shiro's voice cut through his train of thought.

"Allura, could you get a nurse for some ice?" She nods and leaves the room.

Keith stands closer to the hospital bed. "So this is your mom?" He looks over to Lance nodding with a small smile. "She's pretty." He hears Lance give a watery chuckle.

"Yeah, she really is. She's the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." He pauses and narrows his eyes. "She doesn't deserve this. She should be up, laughing and smiling. She should be home taking care of Marco. She should be- she should be awake."

"You're right but right now she's... sleeping," Keith says. "And she needs you to be strong. We'll be here to help you, too."

Lance smiled and opened his arms for a hug. Keith returned the smile, bending down, hugging him close. When Keith pulled away Shiro opened his own arms with a goofy smile, asking for a hug himself. Lance laughs and lunges forward, swinging his arms around the bigger teen. As they pull away, Allura walks in with a small bag of ice wrapped in a paper towel. She raises an eyebrow and hands the ice to Lance.

"Oh, so you're just going to have a hugging party without me?"

Lance giggles and gives her a hug. "Yeah, but you get hugs all the time." Allura sighs into the hug.

"Yeah, I do."

"By the way," Lance said while turning to all three of them, "how did you know to be here?"

"What do you mean? You texted us," Keith spoke with a questionable tone.

"No I didn't... Veronica." Lance sighs. "Veronica must have used my phone. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Allura pats his head. "It's okay, Lancey. Besides, we want to be here."

"Thanks." Lance smiles before he shoots them a glare. It does nothing with how cute he looked when giving it. "Why are you here right now? School isn't out yet! You left! You skipped! What the heck, guys!"

Keith smirks. "Not the first time."

Lance gives them a look of disbelief and crosses his arms over his chest. "Well, this better be the last."

"Highly doubt it."

"Keith, I'm serious."

"Me, too."

"No more skipping!"

"You can't stop me."

"Oh, yes I can"

"No, you can't."

"I can!"

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"Can't"

"Can!"

"Guys!" Both boys turn to Shiro. They turn back to look at each other then burst into laughter, Allura and Shiro joining in after a second.

The four of them relax in their chairs and chat away. While they talk, Lance can't help but to feel happy. He doesn't know why, seeing how his unconscious mother is right beside him. Another hour passes by when the door swings open.

The four of them jump and turn to look at the disturbance. Lance was relieved to see his other two friends standing in the doorway, seemingly out of breath. Hunk was the first to get to Lance, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug. Then Pidge pushes Hunk away to get a hug herself. Lance chuckles at their actions and sits them down to explain the situation.

"Speaking of which, I should probably go check on Marco."

Lance heads to his younger brother's room with the others following. When he walked in, Marco was awake and was extremely happy to see his brother and other people who he could annoy. He reached for Lance and moved over on his bed. Lance sat next to him and wrapped an arm around the small child.

"Hey little guy. How are you?" Marco beamed and held up his cast.

"Good, good! Look at this!" He knocked on the cast. "It's like armor!" 

Lance chuckles and takes his arm and kissed the cast. "Yeah, but let's try not to get anymore armor, okay?"

"Why? Armor's cool!" Lance saddened a bit.

"Well, this is on because of an injury and you don't want anymore injuries, do you?" Marco turns his arm and scrunches up his face.

"No."

Lance goes on to introduce his new friends and they all talk and play games with Marco. Occasionally, a nurse would walk in to ask them to quiet down a bit for the other patients. Lance enjoyed his brother and friend's chatting away. He watched as Keith lost games on purpose and Shiro would show Marco the pins on his jacket. He smiled to himself when Allura and Pidge talked to themselves, knowing they secretly had crushes on one another and laughed when Hunk did silly things to distract Marco when the nurses came to give him a shot. 

He stood up quietly and left the room and walked back to his mom's room. He knew it would be fine to leave his brother with his friends. He sighed and sat down on the chair beside his mom's bed.

Of all things that could happen to his family, this was least expected. Lance grabbed his mom's hand and played with the ring on it. He felt himself tearing up and shut his eyes tight. It didn't help and he felt the tears come down. He cried into the blanket. He just cried and cried.

He must have fallen asleep because when he opened his eyes, Shiro and Keith were sitting together on the wall opposite of Lance. They were sitting very close, whispering to each other. Lance sat up slightly and watched as Keith's expression turned angry. He heard him whisper a 'what'. Lance rubs his eyes and sits up all the way.

"S'wrong," he mumbles. Both their heads snapped up and Shiro quickly stood off the chair.

"Nothing." Lance gave Shiro a disbelieving look but didn't press and just stretched. 

Keith stood up and walked beside Lance and pulled him up into a hug. Lance is very much surprised by this. Why is he hugging him? It was understandable when they hugged the last time but now, Lance wasn't sure. He stiffened in Keith's grasp.

"Keith? You okay?"

Keith pulled back and stared at him then huffed. "Am I-? What about you?"

Lance shrugged. "I'm fine? Keith, what's wrong?" Lance was utterly confused.

"Bullshit," he hissed. Lance flinched back and Shiro put his hand on Keith's shoulder.

"Easy-."

"No! You know what? No-"

"Keith!"

Lance stepped back as the other two glared at each other. What had he done to make Keith so angry? Was it leaving them with his brother? That wouldn't make sense. Wait. Where are the others? Were they still with Marco.

Lance left the room, leaving the two confused. He rushed to Marco's room, not noticing how quiet the halls were from earlier. He opened the door and saw his brother sleeping with no one else there. He slowly closed the door and made his way back to his mom's room. It seemed the two had conversed while he was out for less than a minute and Keith seemed calmer.

Lance gave them a questioning look but didn't ask about what happened and asked where the others were, instead. Shiro smiled.

"It was getting late so Hunk and Pidge left then Allura got called home by her parents." Lance nodded.

"What time is it?"

Keith pulled out his phone. "Almost seven."

" _Seven_? Oh, darn." Lance gathered his bag and coat, making sure everything was there and gave his mom a hesitant kiss on the cheek. "I have to go. Could..." He looked down and tugs on his sleeve. "Could one of you give me a ride home," he asks quietly. "My, uh, step-father won't be able to get me." Keith and Shiro took notice of his pause when mentioning his step-father.

"Yeah," Shiro said with a smile. "I could." He turns to Keith. "See you later."

They left with quick good-byes. When Shiro dropped Lance off he said he would wait until he went inside before driving off. Lance thanked him and went inside but instead of using the front door he went around the back. 

Lance had hoped Tyler was passed out so he wouldn't hear him when he stumbled in through his bedroom window and luckily he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yee, 'til next time! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out, I think it's safe to say there will be swearing, violence, abuse, and slurs of different kinds.

Lance lay awake in bed at 4:33 in the morning. He kept tossing and turning but he just couldn't fall asleep.

It was too uncomfortable to be alone in the house with Tyler. His brother and mom was at the hospital and his sister was at her friend's again so it was just him and his step-dad. He could hear the T.V. in the living room but Lance had no doubt the man was passed out on the couch.

He gets out of bed and gets dressed. He throws on his shoes and, grabbing his phone, leaves through his window. It was getting colder out and he could see his breath but didn't turn back. He needed to get out, even for a little.

He pulled out his phone and looked for a route to school. He took different ways to find out which one was the shortest and tried to memorize the way. By the time he got home it was 5:26. Almost an hour after he left.

Quietly, in order to not alert Tyler, he went around the back and hopped through his window. He stood still, listening to any movement, not sure if Tyler had woken up yet. After hearing nothing he got back in bed.

He almost fell asleep when Lance heard his step-father moving around in the living room. Lance listened to the slamming of Tyler's bedroom door and the grunts of the man as he shuffled around looking for his clothes. Finally, Tyler left the house with a bang of the front door and the rattling of his engine as he pulled out of the drive-way.

Lance sighs and finally falls asleep.

\-----------------------------

The feeling of being shaken wakes Lance up. He grumbles and sits up, rubbing his eye. 

"Lance."

He opens his eyes to see who's there. He smiles when he sees Veronica standing over him with a soft smile.

"Mornin', he said and got out of his warm sheets, stretching.

"Morning? Lance, it's almost one." Veronica crosses her arms, raising a brow.

"What?"

She laughs and nods. She tells him to get ready to go to the hospital. They were going to say bye to Marco and hand him off to their aunt and uncle. 

When they got there their aunt and uncle were already there, playing with Marco. They greeted each other and sat down to talk. 

Lance's aunt and uncle were to take care of Marco while Lance stays. They're only a few towns away so they will be able to visit each other often. The three siblings said good-bye to each other and separated; Lance and Veronica left to their mother's room while Marco left the hospital, hand-in-hand with their aunt.

"Marco will be fine," Veronica told Lance, seeing him glance back at the retreating form of their youngest brother. He sighed and gave her a small smile.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's just, he shouldn't have to leave because of his own father..." Lance opened the door to their mom's room. "Because mama isn't awake."

The two sat down and chatted away for the next hour before Veronica had to leave. 

When Lance was dropped off back at their house, he waved bye and went in and up straight to his room. He flung his shoes and jacket off before falling onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep once more.

\----------------------------------------

When Lance woke up for the second time that day, it was to Tyler yelling. Lance sat up, rubbing his eyes and listened to the angry yelling.

"Rosa! Where the hell are you, you lazy-ass? Aren't you supposed to be making food?"

Lance groaned and headed out towards the kitchen. He stopped outside the door and leaned against the frame with his arms folded over his chest. He watched Tyler stomp around for another few seconds before he cleared his throat.

His step-father stopped and turned. "What the fuck are  _you_  doing here," he seethed.

"Mama isn't here," Lance looked down. "She's in a coma, remember?"

"Where's Veronica?"

"Where she usually is if she isn't here," he growled.

Lance startled when he felt fingers squish his face. "You-" Tyler squeezed harder. "Do not talk to me that way!" Lance tried pulling back but Tyler kept his grip. "Do you understand?"

Lance could smell alcohol on his breath and nodded quickly. The hand on his face was removed.

"Good. Now get out of my sight!"

Lance nodded again and scrambled back to his room, making sure his door was locked. He lied back on his bed and sighed.

Was this how it was going to be like until his mama came back? He's already bad enough when she was around. Oh, god. Will it get worse because she's not here? 

Lance remembers when the two could hold a decent conversation, even though the two never really liked each other. It was mostly for his mamá's sake. So, they could talk, just not too friendly. Until, he came out as bi.

_Lance, Veronica, Marco, Rosa, and Tyler were sat at the dinner table. Every one was smiling and laughing, enjoying conversation and food._

_Lance felt a nudge against his foot and looked up to see Veronica giving him a small nod. She was the only one he told about his sexuality. She confessed she had a feeling he wasn't straight, though. He felt slightly better after and said he was going to tell the rest of the family._

_He guesses right now is the right time._

_Clearing his throat, he glances back at his sister. She's giving him a small smile; he relaxes a bit. When he sees he's got everyone's attention he begins._

_"I have to tell you guys something. Please, don't- don't think differently of me." He takes a second. "I'm... I'm bi."_

_He starts playing with his fingers when silence follows his confession. He was expecting something to be said as soon as he said "bi" but it was just quiet. Lance felt his insides turn the longer nothing was said. Finally, his mom spoke up._

_"Oh, Lance." He looked up with anxious eyes, but softened when he saw a soft smile. "It's alright. Thank you for trusting us enough to tell us. It's... different but alright."_

_Lance felt tears in his eyes as he sprang out of his chair to give her a hug. He whispers his thanks over and over as Rosa hugs him back. He lets go, giving her a kiss on the cheek, and sits back down. He looks over a Veronica as she pats his shoulder._

_"What does bi mean?"_

_Lance smiles at Marco's question. "It means I like boys and_ _gir_ _-"_

_"No!"_

_The whole family jumps at the outburst, quickly turning to Tyler._

_Veronica squints at him. "What?"_

_Tyler slams his hand down onto the table. "I refuse this."_

_Lance furrows his brows. "What..?"_

_"I will not accept this." His step-father stares directly at Lance. "I'm not going to have some- some-_ fag _living in this house!"_

_"Tyler," their mom shouts._

_"No, Rosa! I'm not-" He stands up. "I won't. That is absolutely disgusting!" Tyler shakes his head and leaves, mumbling curses at Lance._

_Lance jumps as he hears the front door slam._

_"Lance..."_

_His mother brings him in for another hug and wipes the tears that are falling. When had he even started crying? He shouldn't be. He had expected that from Tyler._

_He guesses it's different from actually experiencing it than just imagining it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's going to get violent. 'Til next time! <3


	5. Chapter 5

A loud smack bounced off the walls in small bed room Lance and his step-father were in.

"I'm not sorry!" Lance felt pulsing pain on his right cheek but kept the tears at bay.

Tyler grabbed Lance's light pink sweater with a fist and pulled him upwards. "You should be, you sorry excuse for a son!"

Lance glared up. "I'm not even your son!"

"And I'm fucking glad you aren't! I woulda gave you away the moment you came outta that whore."

Lance saw red. He was fine with being pushed around and bullied by this man but no one talked about his mamá that way.

"You take that back."

"Or what," the man sneered down at him. "What are you gonna do, huh? Nothin'! You're pathetic!"

Lance swung his leg into his step-father's shin. The man cried out and let go of the sweater and grabbed hold of his leg. Lance took a step back as Tyler stood straight again and growled.

He lunged forward, pushing the teen to the ground. He knelt down and grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked up. Lance yelled but Tyler kept hold.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You had no right to kick me, you ungrateful thing! I gave you a roof over your head! I make the money for you all to get food! I've given you your little brother! And what the fuck do you do? You give him to your dumbass aunt and uncle and kick me!"

Tyler finished his screaming by slamming Lance's head harshly onto the floor. Lance saw his vision black out for a second before being able to see his step-father leave his room, still mumbling on about the family not appreciating what he gave to them.

He laid there for a few more minutes before dragging himself to the bathroom.

There he inspected the damage.

Luckily nothing was visible except for the hand mark on his face but that should clear up before he gets to school.

What is with him and smacking me in the face, Lance thought bitterly.

It took him less than ten minutes to finish getting ready and creep out the door. As his feet hit the sidewalk a few feet from the house, he let out a sigh and began walking to school.

He kept touching the bump on his head from being shoved into the floor and winced every time he did. He guessed he should be glad all he got was a bump, and on his head too. Any where else, and he might have not been able to hide the mark.

He was only about a block and a half away from his house when he heard the rumbling of an engine, the engine to a motorcycle. The machine slowed to a stop next to Lance but he stepped away.

"Can I help you," he asked. Lance heard a chuckle from behind the helmet before the person took it off. "Keith?"

"Don't sound so shocked. Jeez," Keith grumbled. He leaned forward on his motorcycle and tilted his head behind him a bit. "Need a ride?"

Lance stood there for a few seconds before he furrowed his eyebrow. "Why?"

Keith looked confused. "Why? Because it looked like you needed a ride."

"No like-- why are you here? I didn't ask any one for a ride."

The teen on the bike narrowed his eyes. "Well, if you want to be so rude, I'll leave you alone from now on."

"Wait! No! That's not what I meant. I mean like I didn't message any one. At least I don't think. Did I?" Lance looked down in thought.

Keith sighed and shook his head. "No, Lance, you didn't. I just thought you'd like a ride with me instead of Shiro for once." He had his head turned by the end, trying to hide the slight blush on his cheeks.

"Oh. Oh!" When Keith turned back to look at Lance, he saw a bright and happy smile. "Sure, I would love that!"

When Keith gave Lance a helmet, Lance hesitated. Would it hurt if the helmet was on his injury? He decided it didn't matter and put it on. He didn't feel anything so he got behind Keith and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Could you go slower this time?"

Keith scoffed. "Not a chance."

He sped down the street with Lance squeezing his eyes shut behind him. When they got to the school and parked, Lance flung the helmet off and at Keith. He quickly got off the motorcycle and spun around.

"What the heck Keith!" The other teen faced him with a neutral expression. "You were going way too fast! I'm pretty sure you were going past the speed limit!"

"Yeah, so?"

Lance looked at him in shock. Keith didn't seem to care about safety and that scared Lance a little. Would he not care if Lance got hurt. Would he not care if he hurt himself?

"I'm not riding with you any more if you're gonna be like that."

With that, Lance turned and walked away, not caring for the little "wait" he heard behind him. He just kept walking.

How could some one be so careless? He should be taking better care of himself! He might be getting only scratches and bruises now, but what if Keith ends up breaking his arm or what if he gets hit with an oncoming car and ends up in a coma?

Lance pauses on that thought and ends up bumping into some one.

"Oh-- jeez! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention!" When he looked up, he regretted stopping.

Lotor stood towering above him with a scowl on his face but once he realized who it was that ran into him, a small smile spread across his face.

"Well, if it isn't Lance! It's alright. It was just an accident." Lotor swept a hand through his silver hair and looked down at Lance. "Hey, do you want to sit with me and my friends today? I know the last few times I have asked you said no but maybe you have changed your mind?"

Lance sighed. This again? "Lotor, please. I don't want to sit with you guys. I'm sorry but I like sitting with my friends."

"Oh, but I heard that the kids who have French are on a class field trip. They won't be here until after school ends and as I recall all your friends take French! So, it would be perfect for you to come sit with me!"

Lance stared at the tall teen in front of him. Why did Lotor know his friends take French. And how could Lance forget about that class trip? He didn't know what to do because now he had no one to sit with and he really didn't want to sit with Lotor and his group.

"I.. Well, you see..." He watched as Lotor raised a single brow, wearing that same smile that always gave him chills.

"Actually-" Both boys turned towards the sound of the voice. Lance saw Keith walk up to them, his eyes trained on Lotor. "He's sitting with me today." He wrapped an arm around Lance's shoulders and pulled him a bit closer. "He has other friends, Lotor."

Keith led a red-faced Lance the opposite direction. When he saw Shiro, he called out to him, his arm still on Lance.

"Hey Keith. Lance." Shiro strutted over to the two.

"Lance is sitting with us today."

"O...kay? Why?"

Lance looked up at Shiro then slipped out of Keith's grasp. "Listen, thanks for the save but you don't have to let me sit with you guys. Telling him I'm sitting with you is good enough." He smiles up at the other two. Shiro doesn't seem to excited about me going with them.

Shiro smiled and pulled Lance to his side. "We're not forced to do this, Lance. We want you to sit with us. I just want to know what happened for you to sit with us instead of your other friends."

Lance shrugged. "My other friends aren't here. They're at a field trip. And they're your friends, too, now!"

Both boys looked down at the shortest of the three then looked at each other.

"I.. Don't think they like us," Keith said slowly.

Lance shook his head. "Nah, they like you plenty. Hunk is just a scaredy-cat. Once he gets to know you guys he'll be more at ease I think."

Shiro just nods his head. "Understandable."

The three of them start to walk through the halls, every one does until the first bell rings.

"Yeah, so any way." Keith points behind them. "That bastard, Lotor, was asking Lance to sit with him and his posse. From what I could see he kept bothering him even after Lance said no. So, I said he's sitting with us."

Shiro looked towards Lance. "He's still asking?"

"What do you mean still?" Keith whipped his head to the two. "How long has he been bothering him?"

"From what I've heard from Allura, since he first came here."

"That asshole doesn't know when to stop!"

Lance walked in front of them and stopped, facing the two. "You guys are talking like I'm not here. It's fine, any way. Besides, he'll just be disappointed every time he asks 'cause I'll just keep saying no."

"Yeah, well, if he keeps it up, I'll run him over with my motorcycle," Keith mumbled.

That's when Lance remembered what happened only ten minutes ago.

"Speaking of motorcycles, I'm gonna have a talk with you about that later. You understand?"

Lance looked really worried and angry at the same time and that made Keith worry himself. He couldn't bring himself to brush him off, so he just nodded his head.

Shiro glances back and forth between the two in silence for a few seconds. None of them spoke; Lance and Keith kept staring at each other, Keith a little nervous, and Shiro just watching them. Finally Lance broke the silence.

"Good. We'll talk during Art class."

The bell rang through out the halls, making the three of them jump.

Keith quickly turned around. "Well, guess it's time to go. See you later guys!" He walked quickly away from them and Shiro started laughing. "Fuck off, Shiro!"

Lance looked worriedly at the retreating form of Keith. He tugged at his sleeves. "Do you think he's mad," he asked, still looking down the hall.

"Nah, I just think he can't handle some one yellin' at him," Shiro chuckled. "C'mon, I'll walk you to your class."

"I wasn't yelling!" He quickened his pace to match Shiro's but also to lead the way.

"No, but it seems like you might."

When Lance was dropped off he said his good-bye and sat down in his seat. It felt a little lonely without Hunk. It felt worse when he realized for the next five classes he wouldn't have any friends to be around.

When gym came around Lance was grateful that it would be the last class he had alone. He was surprised, however when he saw Keith and Shiro talking amongst themselves against a wall in the gym.

With confusion, he walked up to them. "What are you guys doing here?"

Shiro smiled down at him while Keith waved. "We have P.E. today."

"Right now?" Shiro nods. "But you haven't been in the last three classes with me."

Keith rubbed the back of his neck while Shiro answered. "That's 'cause we skipped, Lance."

"What?" The two older boys flinched then looked down when they saw how mad Lance looked. "You guys! You can't just skip!"

Keith glances up. "I mean you coul-"

"No! Seriously, you two have to stop skipping." Lance put his hands on his hips. "You hear me?"

Shiro and Keith looked at each other then back at Lance then to the ground again.

"Yes."

Shiro smirked and looked up. "Mom."

Lance gasped and hit him playfully. "I do not sound like a mom!" The three of them laughed and began lining up for attendence. When the teacher got to the trouble makers, he looked at them wide-eyed.

"What," Keith snapped. Lance nudged his side and he sighed.

They were all sent outside since it was nice. Lance had a skip in his step as they were walking through the field. The other boys were watching him with small identical smiles.

There was another gym class outside who were playing football and Lance watched for a bit before turning back to Keith and Shiro.

"I'm glad they let us out today. I needed some fresh air." Lance looked down at the ground, a delicate smile on his face. It was such a different feeling being here than it was at home. He felt more at peace. He felt a little sad earlier because Hunk and Pidge weren't there with him but he felt much better now that Keith and Shiro were here. It was even better since it was a surprise that they had gym together. Lance closed his eyes and let out a content sigh. The peaceful moment was broke when he heard his name being shouted followed by a "watch out!"

He looked up to see a football flying straight towards him. He flinched when a hand flew out and caught the ball, inches from his face.

He followed the hand up to the face of his savior. Shiro stood right by him, his left hand out holding the ball, glaring at the people jogging over.

When the small group of people came closer, they slowed down when they realized who was there.

"Sh-Shiro," a boy in a baseball cap gasped out.

Shiro threw the ball back, full force. The teen caught it, stumbling back a bit. "You do realize you could have hit him, right," he growled out.

The group in front of the three boys took a step back, others multiple. The capped teen spoke again.

"We're sorry. We-we didn't mean to throw so far."

Keith came forward. "Well, next pay a-fuckin-ttention!"

The group apologized again but Shiro and Keith kept glaring at them. Lance looked back and forth between them and took a small step towards his friends.

"Hey, it was an accident. They already said sorry." He put his hand on Shiro's bicep but was slapped away. Lance held his hand to his chest, clearly taken back.

When Shiro saw Lance's face, his expression softened. "Lance-."

Lance ignored him and turned towards the group. "It's okay, guys. You can go." They all nodded and ran back.

When Shiro had slapped his hand away, he used his prosthetic. Lance felt a low throb in his hand. He puts his hands behind his back and looked at the other two, who looked guilty.

He smiled softly. "You guys need to learn to control your temper."

Shiro looked in Lance's eyes. "I'm sorry-"

Lance waved him off. "It's fine but it was just an accident. C'mon, lets walk a bit." He turned to walk but felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over with a questioning gaze.

Keith gently grabbed his hand-- the one that was slapped away-- and lifted it up. "Lance..." Shiro took the hand and felt guilt pinch his gut.

It wasn't too bad, just a bit red but it still hurt. Lance took his hand back. "It's nothing."

Shiro grabbed Lance's other hand and made his way to the door. Lance noticed he used his left hand. The three of them were about to enter the building when their teacher called out to them.

"Where are you three going?"

"Nurse," Shiro shouted over his shoulder and kept going.

Lance looked at the back of his head. "I don't need the nurse!" His protest was ignored as he was dragged down the hall. "Shiro! At least slow down!" As he said that he tripped over his own feet. He would have hit his knees on the ground hadn't Keith grabbed his other arm. He thanked Keith and stood straight.

Shiro still looked guilty but he's eyes shone with worry. He still had his hand wrapped around Lance's. He sighed and loosened his grip, but didn't let go.

"You good," he asked. Lance nodded but looked at him for an explanation. "I just want to get you ice. Is- is that okay?"

Lance smiled up at him. "Yeah. Just slow down?"

This time Shiro smiled and continued his quest to the nurse's office. When they got there, the nurse wasn't there. Shiro grumbled about how the "nurse doesn't do her damn job" and left Lance and Keith alone to get the ice.

"When he's set on something you should just let him do it," Keith said quietly. He glances down at Lance's hand. "Besides, you really do need ice. It looks redder than before."

Lance looked at it and it was more red. He just shrugged. "It's fine, really. Just a dull throb."

Shiro came back with ice in a bag, wrapped in paper towel. He handed Lance it and said another apology.

Lance giggled and placed the ice on his hand. "Stop saying sorry, Shiro. It's okay. Really. Okay?"

The older teen gave a smile to him. "Okay."

By the time they came back (after goofing around some before the nurse came back), they had about 15 minutes before lunch. So, the three of them sat down on the grass just talking and getting closer.

Without realizing it, they talked the 15 minutes away and had to leave for lunch. Lance almost went to his usual table, out of habit, when Keith grabbed the back of his sweater.

"Wrong way, dumbass. You're sittin' with us today," he said.

"Oh, yeah!"

Lance felt Lotor's eyes on him as he was led by his friends to their table. He gave a quick glance to him but saw anger and quickly looked away. Why was he so angry?

He was sat down at the end of the table, closest to the window, with Keith next to him and Shiro in front.

When Lance looked around, he noticed people staring at him and he furrowed his brow.

"You comin' to get lunch with us," Shiro asked as he and Keith placed down their bags.

"No, I have my own lunch."

They said they'll be back and left to get in line, some people creating distance between them. Lance opened his bag but remembered he left his lunch at home when he quickly left the house. He rested his head on the table and closed his eyes in defeat.

He shot up when some one banged on the table directly next to his head.

"The fuck you doin' here?" The man was tall and lanky, with a pointy nose and droopy eyes. Lance heard Hunk call him Rolo. "Answer me!"

By this time some kids around them had quieted and were watching the scene. Lance felt very uncomfortable and looked to the side. "I- uh- well-"

"'I- uh- well!'" A higher pitched voice mimicked. Hunk had called her Nyma. "Come on, spit it out."

Lance fiddled with his sweater and was about to answer when two trays were slammed down onto the table.

"He's with us, Rolo," Keith hissed. "Leave him alone."

"Ooh! What did he do to deserve to be here," Nyma asked.

"He's our friend." This time Shiro spoke. It was quiet for a second before Rolo stared down at Lance.

"A friend?" Lance felt a chill down his spine at Rolo's piercing gaze. He relaxed and shrugged his shoulders a bit. "Alright."

Nyma and Rolo sat down on the other side of the table and started talking to themselves. Soon after the whole cafeteria went back to their own conversations.

"Jeez, some people woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Lance whispered.

"They're always like that. Most of the time we just don't talk with them. We usually only hang out when we want to get high," Keith mumbled.

Lance looked at them and wrinkled his nose a bit. "You guys get high?"

Shiro scoffed. "Uh, yeah?"

"You two are gonna end up killing yourselves before you reach the age of 50," Lance sighed.

Shiro and Keith laughed a bit before Shiro noticed Lance didn't have any food out.

"You waiting for an invite to eat?"

Lance looked up in confusion. "Hm? Oh! No, I'm just not hungry." He tugged at his sleeve.

"You're lying." Lance looked at Keith.

"What?"

"Lance, where's your lunch?"

He looked down. "My house."

Keith pushed his tray over. "Here."

Lance looked surprised. "What? No! Dude, I'm not taking your food."

Shiro laughed. "Lance, just take it. Keith usually has food in his bag for snacks. He probably ate most of them already." He gave a pointed look to Keith. He just smiled and crossed his arms.

"It's true. I'm already full so that's yours."

Lance reluctantly grabbed the plate. "If you were already full you wouldn't have gotten lunch."

He took a small bite of the pasta they had served. It wasn't the best but Lance wasn't going to complain when Keith gave him the food.

When he was about halfway done he pushed the tray away. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, but you aren't going to eat more," Keith asked. Lance shook his head no. "Listen, you don't have to feel guilty. I wouldn't have given it to you if I really wanted it."

Lance looked back at the food. That wasn't it, he just... didn't want it all. With an internal sigh he began eating more of it.

With each bite he felt his stomach twist. Too much! Too much! Lance could feel his body rejecting the extra food but he kept pushing through it. Eventually, he had finished the food but he could feel it coming back up.

He waited a minute to see if that feeling would go away but he couldn't hold it in any longer. He excused himself and left to the bathroom. Once out in the hall, he jogged the rest of the way. As soon as he got near the toilet, he threw up.

It was disgusting, absolutely disgusting but Lance couldn't stop even if he wanted to, and he did. He kept it up until all of his lunch was gone. Now he had an empty stomach and his head was woozy.

He spit once more and wiped his face with toilet paper then flushed it away. He stood on shaky legs and leaned against the stall. He went to the sink washing his hands and face, then gurgled some water in attempts to get rid of the nasty breath.

Finally, he felt ready to go back. Lance went back to the cafeteria bug saw most of it was empty. He hadn't heard the bell ring over the sound of his puking. When he saw his friends, he quickly went to them and apologized.

"Hey, no, it's fine," Shiro assured him. "You okay though? You were quick to leave."

Keith handed Lance his bag and stared at him. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good." Lance quickly changed the subject. "So, ready for Spanish and the teacher's horrible Spanish-speaking skills?"

Shiro laughed and Keith said his good-bye and left for his next class.

Spanish was just like normal. Lance and Shiro would pass notes to each other and trt to suppress their laughter when Mr. D would not pronounce a word correctly.

By the time art came by, however, Lance got serious. He had to talk with Keith.

He watched as Keith strutted up to his seat, then leaning back he stared back at Lance.

"Well?"

"Wait until the teacher is done explaining what we're doing first."

Keith gave a long and loud, frustrated sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeahhh, there are problems. 'Til next time! <3


	6. Chapter 6

"I have a question," Lance said as soon as the teacher ended his explanation of what the class had to do. Keith gave him a look. "Do you care about safety?"

Completely caught off guard, Keith was silent for a second. "Well, I mean, kinda? Yeah, I guess. Uh, maybe?"

Lance furrows his brows. "Don't you care about getting hurt?"

"Not really."

"What if you get injured," Lance questioned. Seriously, could he really be okay with getting hurt?

"Bodies can heal," Keith replied, seemingly bored with the conversation already.

"How many times have you gotten hurt, hm?"

Keith squinted at him. "Plenty."

"How serious?"

"Why does it matter to you," he snapped.

"Answer the question."

"I've only broken a bone once, and that was when I was little. The most injured I usually get is a small scratch or a bump. Happy now?"

"No. They way you ride your motorcycle is frightening."

"Then don't ride with me."

Lance quieted. Why couldn't Keith just see he cared for him and didn't want him getting hurt? That boy was going to get himself killed. "Why can't you ride it safer? What if you do end up breaking a bone because of how careless you're being?"

"Like I said," Keith growled. "Bodies heal."

"Okay, but what if you get hurt really bad? Say you get into an accident and it's really bad? Some bones get too broke and you'll end up having to have some part of your body removed!" Lance kept getting louder with every word. "Maybe, just maybe, the next time you go to turn, you turn too fast and you end up hitting or getting hit! Then you could go into a coma! Do you want that, Keith? Do you?"

"If that happens then it happens. I'm in a coma, whoop dee fucking doo!"

Lance looked shocked. How could he say that? Lance felt himself tear up and he looked down before looking at the teacher with his hand raised. "Can I use the bathroom?"

When the teacher gave his okay, Lance quickly left the room without looking back and ran to the bathroom. He rushed in a stall, locking the door before letting the tears fall. 

How could he  _say_  that? Being in a coma is serious, he should know! He knows Lance's mama is in a coma and even comforted him about it! He cared then, why doesn't he now? Did he-- did he not actually care? Was Keith only comforting him to shut him up at the hospital? Did he not care for his mama? Did he not care about Lance?

Lance swallowed down a sob. No, that can't be right, could it? Keith hugged him and gave him a ride to and from school and shared his lunch. That's caring. At least he thinks so. He's not so sure anymore. Ugh, why was Keith so confusing?

After calming down, he stepped out and splashed water on his face.  _I'm over thinking things._  He left the restroom and made his way down to the art room but was shoved against the wall with a gasp. He looked up in panic and felt his stomach drop when he saw Rolo and Nyma-- Rolo was pushing roughly on his shoulder, keeping him in place.

"Aw, where are you going," Rolo smiled down. "To class like a good little boy?" Lance stared wide-eyed at him. Nyma squinted and leaned down to his face.

"Oh? Was the little boy crying," she giggled, her hand making a crying motion against her face. 

Lance shook his head. "Wha-- no! I--"

Nyma raises a brow. "Do you think he can speak without stuttering," she snickered, Rolo joining her.

Lance tried pushing Rolo away but he just shoved him again. "Nice try, but you're too... weak."

"Let me go! What do you even want?" Lance squirmed but he couldn't get out of the strong grip.

Rolo tutted at him. "You seem to think you own the place. Walking around with your head held high, talking to anyone you want, sitting where you please."

Lance squinted up at the tall teen. "Is this about me sitting at your table? Are you kidding me?"

Rolo laughed lowly. "You don't even know the half of it."

"Rolo!" Lance whipped his head to the side to see Keith stomping towards the three of them. Rolo growled and released his hold on Lance's shoulder.

"Watch yourself," he whispered before smirking at him, wrapping his arm around Nyma's waist and walking away just as Keith came to Lance's side. He huffed angrily and turned to the smaller boy.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Lance looked up at him and shook his head. "No, uh, no."

Keith studied Lance's face then reached a hand up to run his thumb under his eye. Lance's breath hitched as he stared wide-eyed into violet eyes. "Were you crying?"

"What? No! Why would I?" Lance looked down, his eyelashes brushing against Keith's thumb. "No, I wasn't crying."

"Lance..."

"I wasn't!"

"Lance, look at me." He looked up hesitantly. "I'm sorry. Comas aren't something I should have 'whoop dee doo'd. I'm just not used to anyone really... caring? Well, I mean Shiro cares but, like, I've always known him. So, for someone new and someone I've only known for a week to show that he worries. I got a little..."

"Defensive," Lance offers gently. Keith huffed out a laugh.

"Yeah, defensive." Keith finally brings his hand away from the tan skin but oddly Lance's skin feels cold, too cold. "Do you forgive me?"

Lance smiled up at Keith before hugging him. "Of course. Come on, we should get to class."

\-------------------

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day, making Lance groan. Keith shoved everything into his bag but Lance, as slow as possible, packed everything away neatly. He really didn't want to go home. Mondays, Tyler comes home early and Lance didn't want to deal with his drunken yelling, and possibly abuse. 

Maybe he could wait around for Pidge and Hunk to come back so he could ask if he could stay over one of their house for a few hours. Or maybe he could just walk around a park or walk around the town, to map out the place.

"You comin'," Keith asked from in front of him.

"Hm? Oh! Yeah, sorry." 

The two walked outside and waited on the benches for Shiro. Lance guessed that would become a regular thing since the past few school days, Lance would wait for all his friends to come to the front of the school before saying their good byes and going their separate ways. They watched the many kids walk out the doors before they saw Shiro.

Keith called him over and they watched as the teens parted ways for him. He walked over to them, hands in the pockets of his jeans and a light smile gracing his face. "Hey," he said simply as he ruffled Lance's hair.

Lance hissed, though, and swatted his hand away and took a step back. He forgot all about that morning and he frowned, gently placing his hand on the bump. He looked up at the two to see their reactions.

"You okay--"

"It was Rolo, wasn't it," Keith cut off Shiro. "That asshole! I swear to god, I'm gonna fuckin' kill him!"

Lance quickly jumped in front of Keith when he turned to storm towards the back of the school-- no doubt Rolo and Nyma were there smoking. He put his hands against his broad shoulders, pushing back. "Woah, woah! It wasn't him! He didn't hurt me!"

"He better not have," Keith spat. Lance shook his head and pat his shoulders once.

"No, it's okay. I just bumped my head earlier. He didn't lay a hand on me. Honest." Keith gave him a look. "Well, besides my shoulder but even then it didn't hurt."

"Wait, what did Rolo do," Shiro asked. Keith whipped around so fast, Lance swore he was going to fall over.

"He had his nasty, over-sized hands all over Lance!"

"What?"

Lance stared at Keith before Shiro, then hit Keith's arm. "He did not. Keith's over exaggerating. He had one hand on my shoulder. That was it."

The three of them were silent before Shiro sighed. "All right then. Keith, don't go punching people, okay?" Keith crosses his arms and nods. "Lance--" Lance cocked his head to the side. "Do you need a ride home?"

Lance pouts slightly. "Nah, I don't want to go home yet so I think I might either wait for Hunk, Pidge, and Allura or I'm just gonna walk around town."

"Orrrr," Shiro said, a grin playing on his face. "You could hang out my house? Me, you, Keith. How 'bout that?"

Lance brightened up. "Really? Oh, dude, yeah! That'd be awesome!"

"Mmhm. If you stay around long enough, I'll order pizza." Lance nods excitedly. "Alright, then let's go."

Lance skips alongside Shiro and Keith as they make their way to their motorcycles. Keith stops and grabs the top of Lance's bag when they get close to the bikes.

"You lead the way, I'll take shorty," he said to Shiro. He just nodded and got on his motorcycle. 

Lance glares at him. "No way. Not with the way you drive." He tried walking away but Keith held on.

"Just-- trust me, okay?" Lance eyes him wearily.

"This is your last chance."

Keith gives Lance a helmet and the two hop on the hunk of metal and follow Shiro to their destiny.

\---------------------

"You live, like, five streets down from me!"

"Six," Shiro corrects Lance, amusement clear on his face.

"Six. Whatever. I knew that." Keith and Shiro snicker as they walk through the front door. The place was really organized and clean. Lance looked around for any pictures but didn't see any. "Your house is really... bare."

"Yeah, well, don't really have much to show off," Shiro said.

"Mm." Lance noticed the lack of noise and turned to Shiro. "Where's your family?" When silence followed, Lance felt he crossed a line. "Ah, sorry. That was probably really insensitive, huh? I d-didn't mean any harm. I just- it was awfully quiet and I was just curious-"

"Nah, you're fine." Shiro smiled down at him. "I only have my parents but I don't live with them. We didn't really get along."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Deciding he didn't like the mood, he quickly changed the subject. "So, Shiro, what do you have planned for us this lovely evening?"

Grateful for dropping the subject, Shiro motioned for them to follow him and he led the three of them into the living room. Keith plopped himself down on the recliner and grabbed a red controller. "What game we playin'?"

Shiro huffs out a laugh. "I was gonna suggest a movie but a game it is. Whatever you guys wanna play, I guess. I'm gonna get us drinks. What do you want?"

"Strawberry milk!" Lance giggles, then started laughing. Keith looked at him in confusion. "What?"

Lance looks at him and tried controlling his laughter. "I'm s-sorry but I was not expecting the, oh, so mighty, Keith Kogane to like  _strawberry_  milk! You're like a child!"

Keith huffs and crosses his arms defensively. "What? It tastes good!"

Lance giggled and walked next to Keith, leaning over to put his arms around his head and pet his hair. "Aww, it's okay, you poor baby! It's understandable for a boy with the brain of a two year old would want his stwawbewwy milk! Hush, hush now!"

Shiro's barely controlling his laughter as he watches the two of them while Keith looks one second away from snapping. 

"Oh, that's it! You're so getting it now," Keith exclaimed before wrapping his arms around Lance's waist and pulling him into his lap to tickle him. Imagine the joy Shiro and Keith get when Lance actually squeals out laughter.

"N-no! Keeiith! St-- ah! Stop!" He laughter doubles when Keith doesn't relent. "I was k-kidding! I was KIDDING! Pl-please!" Lance laid across the armrest when Keith finally stops tickling him. He lets out a few stray giggles before he sits up and gets out of the chair- he stands next to Shiro and grins. "Hey Keith. I like strawberry milk, too," he says in a staged whisper and scampers off to the kitchen when Keith looks as if he's about to move off the chair.

He smiles to himself when he hears Keith threatening him and waits for Shiro to come in the kitchen, too. "You're one of the few that can really handle Keith, you know that," he says as he walks in. Lance smiles up at him as he takes out three glasses.

"Really?"

Shiro chuckles and takes out milk and strawberry syrup. "Yup. You sound so happy about it."

Lance jumps up on the counter and crosses his ankles, swinging them back and forth. "Well, yeah. Isn't it a good thing?" Shiro hums in approval. "How long have you and Keith known each other for?"

"For a while. Since we've been kids actually. My family kinda watched over him while his mother was gone. That was before me and parents started not liking each other."

"Oh. Well, where's Keith's dad?" Lance watched as the milk turned pink with every stir. Did Keith's dad leave?

"He's gone," Keith said from the doorway. He looked down for a split second before looking at Lance. "He died in a fire a long time ago."

"I'm sorry."

Keith shrugged. "It's cool. It was a long time ago. What about you? Where's your dad?" 

Lance didn't miss the look Shiro gave Keith but pretended he didn't notice. "He died, too."

Keith looked down again. "Oh. Sorry for asking."

Lance giggled-- Keith looked back up. "It's cool," he said as he tilted his head back. "It's only fair I tell you after you told me. Shiro, do you have any chocolate milk?" Shiro nods as he gives Keith his glass.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did he pass," he asked, turning back to the fridge to get the chocolate syrup and put the strawberry one away.

Lance closed his eyes and frowned. "Ah, well, people can do cruel things when in need." He laughed hollowly.

"How so," Keith says as he walks further in the kitchen.

Playing with the hem of his sweater, Lance looks at his lap. "He-- Uh, I-- Could I tell you guys a different time? It's just I haven't really talked about it since it happened..."

"Of course. Here." Shiro holds out his chocolate milk. Lance thanks him and takes his drink in both hands. He feels Shiro tuck a small section of his hair behind his ear and Lance almost purrs, liking the feeling.

Lance slowly looks up into Shiro's eyes and swears he hears his breath hitch. When Shiro doesn't look away, he feels himself begin to blush. "Wh-what," he mumbles.

"Your eyes... I've never noticed how blue they are. They're pretty." Now Lance knows his face is red and he laughs weakly.

"I, uh, get them from my dad." Shiro just hums and continues staring before Lance looks down, embarrassed. "Th-thanks."

When Shiro got himself a glass of soda, the three of them went back into the living room and took turns playing Left 4 Dead. After a dozen plays, Shiro ordered a half cheese, half pepperoni pizza. They were having so much fun and Lance felt so at peace. Hours passed and they were sat together watching a movie when Lance felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He stood up quickly when he read the text, startling his friends.

**Tyler: Alrihgt yu had yor funn get hom in 5 mintes or you inn truble**

That was obviously drunk texting and Lance did not want to anger him any more than he probably is so he went to the front door and threw on his shoes and grabbed his bag.

"I have to go," he said as Shiro and Keith hurried out of the living room. "Tyler wants me home and I don't feel like getting in trouble." He stopped and looked up, sadness clear in his features and a little worry. "I'm sorry."

Shiro and Keith looked at each other then back at the smallest of the three. "Do you need a ride home," Shiro asked with a furrow in between his brows. 

"That would be nice but, uh, I can't be seen with you." Lance averted his gaze. "Tyler is... strict."

"How about I drop you off at the end of your street. Would that be okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Lance went up to Keith and gave him a hug. "Bye, mullet."

Keith poked his side. "Bye, McClain."

Shiro drove Lance down to the end of his street liked he promised and shut his engine off as Lance stumbled of his motorcycle. He handed him the helmet with a smile.

"Thanks again, Shiro. You're a real hero."

"No problem. Hey, you're not gonna be in too much trouble, will ya? 'Cause I could explain that you were over my place and--"

"No!" Shiro startled at the outburst and Lance shuffled in place. "S-sorry, no. The whole point of you dropping me off here is so he won't know I've been with you. I gotta go." He gave Shiro a hug good bye before turning on his heel and jogging the rest of the way home.

\-------------

Lance sighed as his head hit the pillow. Tyler had been asleep when he came home-- how he fell asleep that fast is beyond him. He silently made food and put it in a plastic container for Tyler when he wakes up and went straight to his room. While he was putting on his pajamas his phone buzzed.

He smiled gently when he saw Shiro's name pop up on his screen and swiped up to see the message.

**Shiro: did u get home fine**

**Lance: Yeah.**

**Lance: You sound like a dad. XD**

**Shiro: so ive been told. did ur step dad give u trouble**

**Lance: Lol no. He was passed out when I came in.**

**Shiro: nice**

**Shiro: what r u doing tmrw**

**Lance: Me and Veronica are gonna visit my mama after school. Why?**

**Shiro: just wonderin also Keith wants to call. that ok**

**Lance: Yeah!**

Lance felt giddy when he saw Shiro calling but he didn't know why, exactly. He quickly answered and laughed lowly when he heard Shiro and Keith say hi at the same time. They stayed on the phone until nearly nine o'clock when Lance started getting tired and was told by Shiro to go to bed. They said bye for the second time that night and Lance fell asleep almost right away.

\-------------------

Everything seemed so fine the past week. Lance went to the hospital on Tuesday like he said and he talked with his friends all week and even managed to hang out at Hunk's place with Pidge and Shay on Thursday. Him and Tyler almost didn't communicate with each other so Lance really didn't know what went wrong.

Lance held in a sob as the bathroom door was pounded on-- as if Tyler was trying to break down the door. Lance pulled out another shard of glass from his arm and hissed from the pain and the blood that trickled down his skin. 

Tyler came home angry-- slamming the door, huffing around-- and when he saw Lance, he just attacked. Lance had been sitting in front of the T.V. when he grabbed his hair and yanked down. Lance cried out but Tyler just dragged him off the couch and out of the room. When he let go, Lance scrambled back but his step-father stepped on his ankle, heavy work boots still on and he pressed down harder every time Lance tried moving away.

"Stop fucking squirming!" Lance willed himself to still but his body still shook-- from pain or fright he didn't know but figured it to be both. He didn't know what had happened to make Tyler so angry and wasn't sure why he had targeted him. He flinched when he stepped off him and grabbed his shirt, yanking up. Lance was pushing back into the counter, his back hitting the edge and he grunted as Tyler went to swing at him but he quickly moved out of the way.

Tyler dragged his arm across the counter top, two glasses and papers flew off and onto the ground, smashing by their feet. He turned around in a fit of rage and pushed Lance down onto the ground-- the shards of glass sticking into his arm and hands. He felt tears fall down his face as Tyler stepped up to him, about to grab at him again, but Lance panicked and kicked at his legs, giving him an opportunity to get up and out of there. 

He quickly stood and limped to the bathroom-- the closest room with a door-- and locked the door just as he heard Tyler stomping to follow him. He cried harder when he began banging on the door, shouting profanities and he screamed when a particular bang looked as if the door would come off its hinges. When he felt the door won't fall down he sat on the toilet and started taking out the glass from his hands, each shard he pulled out made beads of blood show.

Tyler was still yelling and banging when Lance began working on his arm. With tears still falling down his face, he washed his cuts and wrapped his injuries up. He sniffed as he rubbed at his back-- major bruising was going to happen and he didn't know how he was going to hide how pained he was. 

Eventually, everything got quiet and he could hear the television playing. He stayed in the bathroom for another minute or two, making sure Tyler really was gone, then opened the door as quietly as possible. He crept out and into his own room and locked his door. He jumped and had to stifle a yell when his phone rang. He looked at the caller i.d. and blew out a breath when he saw Veronica.

"Hey," he said softly when he answered.

"Hey! Just want to let you know next weekend we'll be visiting Marco. Also bring a friend if possible because he won't shut up about your friends that visited him in the hospital," she said with a chuckle. Lance giggled.

"Of course, my friends are the best." He heard Veronica huff a laugh. There was a pause before she spoke again.

"How is everything over there?"

Lance stiffened and looked at his door as if Tyler would burst in any second-- which wasn't unrealistic. "It's... fine for the most part. Me and him barely talked to each other all week." It was best to not get Veronica upset about what was happening. She might feel guilty and try to do something but he didn't want her getting hurt. He smiled when he heard her sigh in relief.

"That's good. I'll be visiting sometime this week so me and you could go to the movies or the mall or something."

"Mm, 'kay. Just text or call before you come so I can clean up a bit," he laughed and she snorted on the other end.

"Of course."

The two talked for another half hour before Veronica had to go. Lance whimpered when he tried laying on his side on his bed. He grumbled about his back gonna be a pain for a while and sat up.

 _Aren't Fridays supposed to be happy days_ , Lance thought bitterly. He glanced at his phone and debated whether or not to text Hunk about hanging at his house for a bit but decided against it because he would have to ask Tyler and that was a big no-no.

He sighed and and went out his homework but notifications from his phone stopped him. He grabbed his phone and saw Allura's name.

**Allura: heyyy wanna hang out at Shiro's place with me him and Keith**

**Lance: I don't think I can my step-dad's not in a good mood and I don't want to ask him.**

**Lance: Why not ask Pidge?**

**Allura: askdb why u little-**

**Lance: XD**

**Allura: well what if i come over and ask him for you**

Lance thought for a second. Would that work? Only one way to find out. He told her okay and waited for the knock on the door. About seven minutes later he heard loud and quick knocks on the front door. He leaned his ear against his door and listened as Tyler turned the T.V. down or off. He heard the front door opening and smiled when he heard Allura's voice introducing herself.

"Hi, I'm Allura, a friend of Lance's. I wanted to know if he could come with me to a friend's house. We're doing a group project and we decided last minute we should get together and work on it." Lance held his breath as he waited for Tyler's response. 

"Hold on," he heard. Lance backed away from the door when Tyler walked down the hall towards his room. "Lance open this door," he growled lowly.

When Lance opened it, he saw Tyler with his arms crossed and an angry look on his features and gulped. "Y-yes?" He mentally smacked himself when his voice wavered. He stumbled back when Tyler stepped into his room and closed his door.

"A friend is at the door for you." Lance pretended to be slightly surprised. "For a group project she said. You go but you come back before seven. You hear me?"

Lance looked at his phone and saw it was 5:46 p.m.. "But that's only about an hour," he protested.

"Does it look like I care? You have 'til seven. Any later and you're gonna get smacked." Lance nodded quickly and put on a sweater then grabbed his backpack. "Now get the fuck outta here!"

Lance nodded again before throwing open his door. He tripped over his feet when Tyler came up behind him and looked back at him. Tyler furrowed his brows more and nodded his head to the front door.

Lance didn't need to be told twice for him to rush out of there. He shut the door behind him and jumped down to the sidewalk. Him and Allura walked a few feet out of sight from the house before Lance turned and gave Allura a hug.

"Thank you." She hugged back tightly and let go.

"Your step-dad seems intense," she said slowly.

Lance scoffed. "You have no idea. By the way, did you walk here?"

"Oh, heavens, no. Not in these heels," she said as she pointed to the three inch heels she's wearing. "I brought my car but I parked it a little ways down so your step-father didn't hear me before I got to your front door."

They got into the light pink car and drove to Shiro's place-- the whole time Lance sat straight to avoid any more pain in his back. Keith and Shiro were waiting on the front steps and jumped up when Lance got out of the car. He gave each of them a hug and they four of them went inside.

"Lance," Allura said gently. He smiled up at her.

"Yeah?"

"What happened for glass to be all over your floor," she asked and Lance froze. Had Tyler not cleaned up the mess? No, of course not, he's probably going to make Lance clean it. He should have at least swept it off to the side or something. 

"Uh, he dropped a couple of glasses, I think," he said, playing with the sleeve of his white sweater. "A-any ways, what are we all doin'?"

Keith eyes him suspiciously and shared a look with Shiro. "We were just going to go to the park for a bit but, Lance, are you okay?"

Lance's smile faltered for a second. "What? Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Let's go to the park!" He turned around with a finger in the air and took a step towards the front door but some one grabbed his arm and he cried out.

He twisted around to see Keith's hand in front of him and his shocked face. "I... I just saw your hand wrapped up so..."

Lance put his hand behind his back and laughed weakly. "Oh, yeah I just cut my hand because I'm actually really clumsy."

Shiro took a step forward. "Lemme see you arm."

Lance looked up at Shiro before frowning and slowly shook his head, backing up. "There's nothing wrong with it."

"If there was nothing wrong you wouldn't have reacted like that when Keith grabbed you," Allura said.

Lance looked at them and sighed. He reluctantly put his arm in front of Shiro and grimaced when he saw some blood bleed through the sleeve. Keith must have opened up some of the cuts.

"Lance," Shiro hissed softly and gently pulled up his sleeve. Keith was now beside the two and began taking off the bandages that was wrapped around Lance's forearm. "What happened?"

Lance kept his gaze down as his friends fret over him. He knew he couldn't tell them about Tyler so he made up a lie. "Well, Tyler wasn't the one to drop the glasses-- I did. I ended up falling on some of the shattered glass when I went to get the broom and, well, yeah. Tyler got mad for breaking the glasses so he sent me to my room." It was a half lie, Lance reasoned with himself. Lance did fall on the glass and Tyler did get mad.

Shiro held on to Lance's elbow and started leading him down the hall. "Come on, let's re-wrap these."

When they entered the bathroom, Lance pouted as he took off his sweater. He won't be able to wear that the rest of the day and it's chilly outside. After cleaning and bandaging his forearm up, Lance still had a pout.

Shiro looked behind him to see if Lance was following him and felt his heart leap when he saw the pout. He stopped and waited for Lance to be by his side before he began talking. "What's with the face," he asks as he gently bumps Lance's shoulder. Lance pout deepens-- his cheeks puff out and Shiro looked ahead to hide his blush.

"My sweater is ruined and now I can't wear it," he whines and Shiro should not have found that as cute as he did. "And it's chilly outside but I still wanna go to the park!" Lance looked up at Shiro and huffed.

"Hold on," Shiro said before going back down the hall. It was only a few seconds later that Shiro came back with something black in his hand and threw it at Lance. Lance looked at what it was before he smiled and quickly put on the hoodie.

It was much larger than his small frame but he loved it either way. The sweater fell down to his thighs and it hid his hands. Lance couldn't resist and flapped the sleeves and giggled. "Eeek! Thank you!" He smiled and walked to the other two people in the house. It was sadly black but it was comfortable. "Look! Look how big it is on me!" He spun around in glee and flapped the sleeves again when Shiro came up behind him. He squeaked when he felt he cheeks being squished together.

"Oh. My. God. You are so  _cute_!" He blushed as Allura let go of his face with a laugh. "So, I'm going to go the store real quick-- you guys go to the park-- so I can get--"

Lance stopped listening as he played with the sweater. He grabbed the collar with his sleeve covered hands and brought it up to his face. The hoodie smelled good and he closed his eyes as he inhaled the scent. He let out a pleased hum. It smelt so much like Shiro. He heard giggling and looked up to see Shiro, Allura, and Keith looking at him.

Allura was giggling at him while Shiro and Keith's faces were slightly red. Lance gave them a confused look before he realized they were staring because  _he was smelling the hoodie_. He quickly let go of the collar and cleared his throat nervously. "So, uh, are we-- are we ready to go?" He felt his face flare up from high how his voice was and from being caught sniffing Shiro's hoodie.

Allura smiled a big, toothy smile and nodded her head. "Yup! We were about to head out while you were smelling that sweater."

"Wh-what? I- I was not smelling the s-sweater!" Lance looked down as his blush intensified. 

"Oh, really," Shiro hummed. He bent down to Lance's face with a smirk. "Then what were you doing?"

Lance looked into Shiro's eyes and huffed. "Nothing..." Shiro laughed and stood up straight.

"Whatever you say, Lance."

"'Whatever you say, Lance'," Lance mimicked making his friends laugh. "Alright, alright stop making fun of me and let's go to the park!" He pushed on Shiro's back to get them walking.

"Okay, I'll be back in ten minutes top," Allura said as she heads to her car.

"Huh? Where are you going," Lance asks.

Allura laughed. "If you weren't busy smelling the hoodie you would know."

Lance groaned. "It's not my fault the sweater smells good!" He threw his arms up in exasperation, missing the way Shiro's face tinted red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 'Til next time! <3


	7. Chapter 7

Keith, Lance, and Shiro just stepped through the gates of the park when Lance kicked his legs out and said he wanted to swing. 

Keith ended up giving him a piggy-back ride when Lance complained he didn't want to walk anymore. Definitely not because with every step his ankle hurts from when Tyler stepped down on him-- nope. It didn't even take that much convincing. He had gently tugged on Keith's sleeve and asked for a piggy-back ride; not wanting to get annoyed he asked cautiously. Keith stared at him with an unreadable expression before he crouched down.

"Well," Keith had snapped.

Lance smiled and scrambled onto his back with a gleeful "thanks!" He had kicked his legs around and raised his arms in the air and cried out how tall he is while Keith told him to knock it off or he'd drop him.

Keith placed him down so he could go to the swings but Lance turned around and grabbed his and Shiro's hand and pulled them towards the swing set with him.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! I bet I could swing higher than the both of you."

Shiro snorted but Keith took the bait. "Oh, really? We'll see about that," he said before running ahead and swinging on the swing.

"Hey! Unfair!" Lance turned to Shiro. "He's not fair. Come on, you too. We're gonna beat him!"

Keith won.

To be fair, Lance's swing almost flipped and he was not ready to injure himself anymore than need be. Shiro didn't even try to join in the competition - just content to watch. 

"Stop pouting, you baby. It was obvious I was going to win," Keith taunted.

"Psh, whatever. I'm not pouting. I don't pout."

Shiro raised a brow and kicked his swing making Lance squawk. "Yeah, you are, and yeah you do."

"Nuh-uh!" Lance pouted and rolled his eyes at Keith's snicker. He swung a little higher and jumped off the swing but stumbled and hit the ground with a squeak. "Ow, ow, ow!"

Shiro was the first by his side, kneeling with his hands on his shoulders. "You okay? What's wrong?" Keith knelt down in front of him looking over his body.

"My ankle..." When Keith moved to lift his pant leg Lance quickly brushed his hand away. Who knew what kind of bruise or mark was there from earlier and he didn't want them seeing. Keith scowled at him but Lance just gave him a small smile. "I just fell on it the wrong way. I probably didn't do more than just sprain it slightly. I'm okay."

Keith still looked at him wearily but Shiro stood up and stretched out his hand and Lance took it and was lifted up. "How about we don't do anymore jumping around, okay?"

Lance rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Yes, dad."

Shiro let out an exaggerated groan, throwing his head back. "Why does everyone think I'm a dad?"

Without a beat Keith shot him a smug grin. "'Cause you're daddy material."

As Shiro's face grew red, Lance burst into laughter, embarrassing Shiro more. "Keith," he yelled, punching his shoulder only making the smallest of the three laugh more. Keith and Shiro looked at Lance as he clutched at his side and they couldn't help but laugh with him.

Lance's laughter began to die down and he watched the others with a happy look. He felt happy with these two. He felt happy with Pidge and Hunk and Allura. He wished he could stay with them forever but he only had forty-five more minutes with them. Only forty-five minutes until he had to leave and go back home to his step-father; he'd be alone and vulnerable. He suppressed a shiver.

"What's so funny?" The three turned to see Allura, in all her glory and grace, walking up to them with plastic bags in both hands. 

"Allura!" Lance limped up to her and threw his arms around her body and she was quick to reciprocate.

"What happened? Why are you limping?" Lance drew back with a semi-guilty face while Keith shouted what had happened behind them. She told him to be careful with himself then held up the bags.

"Ooh! What's in it," Lance asked with a tilt to his head.

Allura smirked. "If you weren't busy sniffing Shiro's sweater you would know," she said and watched with satisfaction as pink tinted his cheeks.

"I wasn't-- just tell me what's in there!" Allura opened the first bag to reveal snacks and beverages then opened the second one. "Firecrackers...?"

"No, dummy, they're sparklers," she corrected and Lance's face lit up.

"Ohmygod! The ones where you hold onto the end as the other end sparks up?" He hadn't played with one since he was seven! He loved them so much but after he's papa's passing...

A lot of things he had loved he stopped doing.

Allura nods her head in amusement and he shouts in joy and makes grabby hands. "Not yet," she said. "We'll wait another twenty minutes for it to get darker so it'll be more enjoyable."

"Okay!"

While they passed time they played a game called Grandpa. It's like tag but everyone is to play on the playground. The person who is it has to keep theirs eyes closed and spin around ten times then try to catch the other players on the set. If the person who is it calls out wood chips or ground while someone is touching the ground, they become it, and of course if someone gets tagged, they're it. It was fun and they played multiple rounds but finally it was time to play with the sparklers.

They each grabbed one and set the rest aside while Shiro took out a lighter. As soon as Lance's was lit, he took off, swinging his arm around and spinning in circles and making designs in the air and laughed when the others joined him. He paused from his little dance and watched his friends. He started tearing up as he remembered how his family did this.

His mama, papa, Veronica, and him would find an open field with multiple packs of sparklers and a picnic basket full of their favorite snack and food. Veronica and him would circle their parents, weaving between them to create yellow lines through the air and it was almost magical. He would laugh and squeal as his papa lifted him up on his shoulders.

He wiped a tear away as Allura turned to smile at him and he couldn't help himself as he gave her a hug then gave Shiro then Keith one. He pulled back to see their smiling but confused faces.

"Thanks," he says, "for this. I haven't messed with sparklers since... And thanks for being my friend."

"Lance..." Allura brought him into another hug. "You're so precious."

The alarm from a phone sounding off made the four of them jump. "Ah, I have to head home now." He reluctantly pulled away and shut his phone off with a sigh.

"No," Shiro said. Lance just blinked then giggled.

"Shiro, I have to. Tyler only gave me an hour. I have to go or I'll be in trouble."

"Ask to sleepover."

"Uhm..."

"Please?"

Lance stared at him and struggled for an answer. Shiro wants him to stay and we wants to stay, too, but Tyler is not in a good mood. Who knows what he would do if he asked, but... Shiro would be disappointed. With a sigh, Lance unlocked his phone and called Tyler, stepping away from his friends.

" _What_ ," came the response after several rings. 

Lance let out a shaking breath. "Um, c-could I sleepover?" Before Tyler could respond Lance began talking rapidly. "I could come go over and-and make dinner for you and come back here." He began pacing and fiddling with the end of Shiro's sweater. "And t-tomorrow I could clean the house - the entire house. Please, I promise I'll do it, please! I haven't had a sleepover since two years ago and- please, sir-!"

" _Enough!_ " Lance froze and held his breath, waiting and hoping Tyler says yes but flinched when he heard him speak again. " _Do you ever fucking shut up? You can sleepover but I don't want your ass over here if you're just gonna leave. I expect the house spotless when I come back from work tomorrow. Do. You. Understand?_ "

"Y-yes, sir! Th-thank you!" Lance giggled as Tyler hung up the phone and turned to his friend's with a smile and jumped over to them. "He said yes!"

Lance had really expected Tyler to say no, seeing how he was reluctant to let Lance leave earlier. Maybe he had time to cool off during the hour he was gone. Whatever the case, Lance was ecstatic. He hadn't slept over a friend's house since people found out he was bisexual in his old school.

"Good," was all Shiro said. Lance raised a brow at him. "What? I'm not supposed to be happy that you're gonna be staying at my place for the night?" Lance snorted, shaking his head then looked down in thought.

Allura wrapped her arms around him from behind and leaned her head against his. "What?"

"Mm, nothing important really but... Shiro?" 

"Hm?"

"Could I borrow some sleep clothes? Tyler says that I should just stay instead of going back and forth between our houses. It's fine if not." Lance looked down at the sweater he's wearing. "I mean, I already took your sweater, so, I guess it's kinda selfish to ask for more from you, huh? Eep!" He rubbed his forehead where Shiro flicked him.

"Yes, you can borrow my clothes. Although, I don't know how well they fit you seeing how you're so small." Lance beamed up at him.

"Thank you!"

They stayed at the park for another hour before they headed back to Shiro's and Lance got another piggyback from Keith. Allura and Keith gathered their belongings and left when they got to Shiro's. After saying their good-bye's Shiro turned around with a smile.

"Let's get you some clothes and I'll order dinner- a late dinner. That sound good," he asked as he headed towards his room.

"Yup!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooo sorry this took forever! I'm also sorry this is really short but the next chapter will be better! 'Til next time! <3


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